Ethereum Activity Surpasses L2 Metrics After Fusaka Update

Following the Fusaka update, Ethereum's main network has seen a resurgence in activity, outpacing several leading Layer 2 solutions in daily active addresses. Analysts from Token Terminal have characterized this trend as a "return to mainnet." On January 16, active addresses on Ethereum peaked at around 1.3 million, stabilizing afterward at approximately 945,000 daily — a figure that surpasses metrics from Arbitrum, Base, and OP Mainnet.

Despite this growth, liquidity in the Layer 2 ecosystem has decreased significantly, with the total value locked (TVL) dropping by 17% over the past year to $45 billion, as reported by L2Beat.

The increase in Ethereum's activity is largely attributed to the December Fusaka update, which led to a substantial reduction in gas fees. However, experts warn that this surge may be partly driven by artificial traffic rather than genuine user engagement. Blockchain security expert Andrey Sergeenkov has raised concerns about a possible spam attack, describing a phenomenon he calls "address poisoning." He notes that the drop in transaction fees by over 60% has made it profitable for attackers to exploit the network, suggesting that the recent growth in address creation is linked to stablecoin operations.

Sergeenkov reported that 67% of wallets created recently received less than $1 in their first transaction, indicating a network of smart contracts distributing microtransactions to numerous wallets. He noted that 116 users fell victim to this scheme, resulting in losses exceeding $740,000.

Despite these concerns, Ethereum continues to dominate the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), with total assets on the network exceeding $350 billion. Analysts from ARK Invest predict that the market for tokenized instruments could reach $11 trillion by 2030. Ethereum currently holds 56% of the stablecoin market, and when including Layer 2, it controls 66% of the RWA segment. However, concerns about Ethereum's long-term viability have been expressed by institutions like JPMorgan.