Gas fees on the Ethereum network plummeted to their lowest levels in over six months, signaling a potential resurgence in altcoin activity, according to analysts from crypto analytics platform Santiment.
On April 27, the average fee for an Ethereum transaction dropped to a remarkable $1.12, as highlighted in a recent Santiment post on April 28.
Santiment noted a historical pattern in trader sentiment, oscillating between phases of exuberance and pessimism, which is reflected in transaction fees. They explained that fees typically peak during market tops and recede to lower levels during market bottoms.
The surge in gas fees earlier this year, reaching an eight-month high in February, coincided with heightened interest in the ERC-404 token standard.
The recent dip in gas fees suggests a potential uptick in Ethereum network activity, potentially signaling the onset of an altcoin rally.
Simultaneously, Ether’s price experienced a modest increase, rising by 4.3% over the past week, according to CoinGecko data.
On April 27, tokens native to Ethereum layer-2 networks such as Optimism, Arbitrum, and Polygon emerged among the top performers in the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap, with gains of 11.7%, 3.5%, and 2.8% respectively.
Despite the network’s reduced activity, the circulating supply of Ethereum witnessed a notable increase, reaching its highest point in the past month.
Over the last 30 days, 74,458 new ETH were issued, while only 57,516 were burned, resulting in a net supply increase of 16,979 ETH, according to data from ultrasound.money.
This contrasts with the preceding five months, marked by consistent deflation. Nonetheless, since the Ethereum network transitioned to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism known as the Merge on September 15, 2022, over 437,000 ETH have been burned.
