Ethereum gas fees surge 498% as on-chain activity increases

Ethereum's (CRYPTO:ETH) network transaction fees have spiked by 498% over the past two weeks, driven by a surge in on-chain activity, according to a recent report by Coinbase.

The report, published on September 27, highlights that between September 16 and 26, the median transaction cost rose from $0.09 to $1.69.

This rise in gas fees reflects growing activity on the Ethereum blockchain, with no single factor driving the increase.

Coinbase analysts David Duong and David Han attribute the higher fees to multiple factors.

One significant aspect is the rise in decentralised exchange (DEX) volumes, which increased by 9% week-on-week.

Additionally, lending platforms like Aave (CRYPTO:AAVE) saw an uptick in deposit rates for USDC (CRYPTO:USDC), rising from 3.5% to 4.5%, indicating higher leverage activity.

Ether transfer volumes also grew by 17%, contributing to the rising transaction fees.

Data from blockchain efficiency firm Gashawk further confirms the surge in Ethereum gas fees, noting that gas prices spiked to 40 gwei several times in the last week.

This increased network activity also led to a significant rise in the total Ether fees burnt daily, which surged over 900%, reaching 2,097 ETH between September 14 and 24, according to CryptoQuant.

In addition to the rising fees, Ethereum decentralised application (DApp) volumes doubled in the last 24 hours, jumping 97% to $3.6 billion.

NFT volumes also rose by 17% on the same day, reinforcing the heightened activity on Ethereum.

Ether (ETH) has shown signs of a bullish momentum shift, breaking above its relative strength index (RSI) downtrend.

However, ETH remains below its 100-day and 200-day exponential moving averages (EMAs), which stand at $2,770 and $2,864, respectively.

Bulls will need to push ETH above these levels to confirm a sustainable recovery.

Ethereum investment products also posted positive inflows, ending a five-week negative streak, with $87 million in inflows reported.

At the time of writing, the Ethereum price was $2,642.67.