Ethereum continues to show strong underlying network activity despite ongoing pressure on its token price, with a major network upgrade in early December providing a boost to scalability and efficiency.
The Fusaka upgrade, activated on December 3, 2025, marked one of Ethereum’s most important technical advances this year. While ETH prices have lagged broader market expectations, developers and analysts say on-chain growth and institutional adoption remain robust.
Fusaka Upgrade Improves Scalability
The Fusaka upgrade introduced several key improvements aimed at reducing costs and increasing network capacity. These included PeerDAS, a new data availability system designed to make rollups more efficient, and an increase in the block gas limit to 60 million.
The update also added enhancements to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), such as new opcodes and expanded signature support. As a result, Layer-2 transaction fees fell by an estimated 40% to 60%, improving performance for decentralised finance applications, NFTs and blockchain-based games.
Strong Growth in Network Activity
Ethereum’s on-chain activity surged in December. New wallet creation rose sharply, peaking at 197,380 new wallets on December 2 and 195,460 on December 15, signalling strong user demand despite weaker prices.
The network also maintained its leading position in digital collectibles. Ethereum accounted for around 62% of total NFT sales early in the month, reinforcing its dominance in the sector.
Institutional Adoption Accelerates
Institutional interest in Ethereum continued to grow in 2025. Wall Street firms increasingly adopted the network for yield products and fund administration, encouraged by clearer regulatory signals and Ethereum’s improving infrastructure.
At the same time, Linea, a major Layer-2 network, integrated all Ethereum upgrades introduced in 2025. Developers say this brought Linea close to mainnet parity in terms of speed, security and reliability.
Outlook
While ETH prices remain under pressure, analysts note that Ethereum’s fundamentals appear stronger than ever. The combination of lower fees, rising network activity and growing institutional use has strengthened confidence in Ethereum’s long-term role as the backbone of decentralised finance and Web3 infrastructure.
