TL;DR
- Ethereum’s 7-day average total fees hit the lowest level since May 2017, underscoring a decoupling between ETH price and fee generation.
- After peak congestion in 2020 to 2022, fee spikes have become lower and shorter, leaving 2025 to 2026 costs near pre-adoption levels.
- Low fees imply minimal network stress and ample block space; the next demand cycle will show whether efficiency gains persist or fees re-expand for users and builders.
Ethereum is running unusually quiet on its fee meter, even while its price remains high relative to earlier years. On a 7-day moving average, total transaction fees have fallen to their lowest level since May 2017, signaling a real cost reset. Glassnode’s view of fees versus price shows a steady compression in the fee band rather than the congestion spikes that defined prior cycles. For users, that means cheaper inclusion and less friction. For traders, it hints that the most intense on-chain speculation is not driving block space demand the way it once did materially.
A structural decoupling emerges as Ethereum fees compress
From 2017 through early 2021, Ethereum’s fee cycles acted as a pressure gauge, with multiple explosive surges during major bull phases. The most extreme period arrived in 2020 to 2022, when sustained congestion kept fees at record highs for long stretches. Since that peak, the decline has been persistent, structural, not just cyclical. Each rebound in price has produced lower and shorter-lived fee spikes, implying costs are no longer responding to price strength the old way. By 2025 to 2026, the 7-day fee average has compressed to levels last seen before Ethereum’s first adoption wave.
The standout feature is the decoupling between ETH’s price and what users pay to move value. Historically, higher prices came with higher congestion, but this time price strength has not revived fee expansion. The data points to a network operating under minimal stress, with ample block space and limited competition for inclusion. That can be read two ways: protocol efficiency has improved, and the speculative, high-intensity on-chain behavior that once pushed fees up is currently muted on the main chain. Until sustained fee growth returns, the market is signaling demand is present, but not overheating.
Zoomed out, Ethereum appears to be entering a new operating regime where usage can scale without repeating the fee shocks that defined earlier bull markets. Whether this is a temporary lull or a durable structural shift will be decided by the next demand cycle, not today’s prints. If fees begin to expand sustainably, it would signal block space competition is back. If they stay compressed, the network shifts toward predictable costs and easier budgeting for apps. For now, fees sit at levels last seen in its earliest growth phase. That is a meaningful cost reset.
