Ethereum Transaction Fees Hit Record Highs as Ether, DeFi Coins Soar

Fees for transacting on the Ethereum network breached previous records, passing above $20 for the first time Thursday.

As of 05:45 UTC (12:45 a.m. ET), the average and median transaction fee on Ethereum reached as high as $23.43 and $11.77, respectively, data from Blockchair indicates.

Ethereum last broke its transaction fee record a month ago on Jan. 11, hitting an average $19 per transaction. Current values double the peak transaction fees recorded during the "DeFi summer" of 2020.
The increase in fees correlates with the general price run ether has enjoyed since the New Year. The CoinDesk 20 places year-to-date returns on the digital asset at 130%.
The increase in the cost of transacting on the Ethereum network also reflects growing demand for ERC-20 based tokens, particularly stablecoins and the red-hot decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.
Led by tokens like uniswap (UNI) and aave (AAVE), DeFi's total market capitalization is up 16.37% in 24 hours, according to Messari.
Ethereum miners have been a primary beneficiary of the fee spike. The industry earned some $830 million in ether last month with 40% attributed from fees alone.

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