Nansen

Fusaka

Polygon

Avalanche

Higher

Several of the biggest blockchain networks handled more transactions in December even as user fees fell, a sign that recent scaling upgrades are increasing capacity and easing competition for block space, according to data compiled by Nansen.
Data from Nansen <a href="https://app.nansen.ai/macro/blockchains" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">showed</a> that Bitcoin, Tron, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche and The Open Network (TON) recorded month-over-month increases in transactions, while fee revenue declined sharply across the same period.&nbsp;
Ethereum transactions increased by 16% despite a 57% decline in fee revenue. Polygon showed a similar divergence, with transaction counts jumping 82% while fees dropped 47%. Arbitrum and Avalanche also showed a very notable transactions-up, fees-down pattern.
Tron, Bitcoin, and TON recorded more modest transaction growth of 0.6%, 7.7% and 7.9%, respectively. However, these chains also saw declines in fee revenue, reinforcing the broader trend of easing blockspace pressure across networks.
The trends point to a structural shift in how blockchains handle demand. Scaling upgrades, rollups and cheaper execution environments expanded capacity, without triggering congestion or bidding wars for inclusion.&nbsp;
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b6966-c215-71a2-a54d-f50a8e2cd283.jpg" title="" alt="Higher activity, lower fees: Here’s what December’s onchain data shows">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Blockchain addresses, transactions, and fees data in the last 30 days. Source: Nansen
 </figcaption>
</figure>
According to Nansen’s artificial intelligence help section, its percentage-change figures are not strict month-over-month comparisons but reflect shifts relative to recent activity baselines.&nbsp;
As a result, sharp reversals or outflows can register as declines greater than 100%, representing a net negative flow in activity momentum rather than literal “negative transactions.”
<h2 id="transactions-increase-as-fee-pressure-fades-across-major-networks">Transactions increase as fee pressure fades across major networks</h2>
On Nov. 27, Ethereum raised its block gas limit to 60 million, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-validators-push-gas-limit-60m-scaling" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">allowing more transactions and contract calls</a> to fit into each block, easing congestion.&nbsp;
The effect was <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-fusaka-upgrade-goes-live-instant-feel-user-experiences" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reinforced in December with the Fusaka upgrade</a>, which introduced PeerDAS to dramatically expand data availability and lower costs for rollups, reducing aggregate fee pressure even as activity increased.
Polygon showed a similar pattern after <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/polygon-madhugiri-hardfork-throughput-stablecoins-rwa" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">deploying its Madhugiri hard fork</a> in early December. As Cointelegraph previously reported, the upgrade cut consensus time to one second and aimed to boost throughput by up to 33% while making gas-heavy operations more efficient and predictable.&nbsp;
The network positioned the upgrades around stablecoins and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, which tend to generate more frequent but low-urgency transactions that lift volumes without pushing fees higher.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Avalanche’s performance seems to be a result of a mix of ecosystem activities.
Nansen Research's Avalanche Ecosystem Report <a href="https://research.nansen.ai/articles/avalanche-q3-2025-ecosystem-report" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">showed</a> that the network’s transaction growth can be attributed to stablecoin payments, institutional settlement and consumer platforms like ticketing and gaming.&nbsp;
These use cases generate high throughput but little competition for blockspace, allowing transactions to rise while fees fall.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Arbitrum’s pattern <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/arbitrum-the-next-generation-layer-2-for-ethereum" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reflects the economics of rollup scaling</a>. The network batches transactions off-chain and posts compressed data to Ethereum, allowing transaction volumes to grow without proportional increases in fees.&nbsp;
Its fee market design separates execution costs from Ethereum calldata costs, dampening fee volatility even under higher loads.&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/memecoins-christmas-2025-yearly-decline" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Memecoins go from Christmas cheer to cold reality, sinking 65% in a year</a>
<h2 id="not-all-networks-shared-the-same-divergence">Not all networks shared the same divergence</h2>
While several major blockchains recorded higher transactions alongside falling fees, others saw activity and fee revenue decline in tandem, reflecting a quieter onchain environment over the last 30 days.&nbsp;
BNB Chain <a href="https://app.nansen.ai/macro/blockchains?chain=bnb" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">had</a> a sharp pullback, with transactions down 79% and fees declining 14%.
Base and HyperEVM recorded some of the steepest contractions in activity.&nbsp;Base transactions fell 75%, while fee revenue dropped 63%. HyperEVM followed a similar pattern, with transactions down 119% and fees falling 46%, suggesting reduced short-term usage throughout December.&nbsp;
Solana remained the busiest network with 1.7 billion transactions; even this result marked a 21% month-on-month decrease, according to Nansen. Similarly, fee revenue dropped 17%.&nbsp;
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b6966-c61a-75b0-a350-0db5b67de507.jpg" title="" alt="Higher activity, lower fees: Here’s what December’s onchain data shows">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Solana transactions in the last 180 days. Source: Nansen
 </figcaption>
</figure>
These synchronized declines align with broader crypto market conditions. <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/charts" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">According</a> to CoinGecko, the overall crypto market capitalization fluctuated between $2.9 trillion and $3.1 trillion throughout December.&nbsp;
With prices, volatility and capital rotation remaining stagnant, onchain activity across networks cooled in parallel.<iframe width="100%" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bWZoDbdBiUw?start=" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen loading="lazy" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms"></iframe>
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/ethereum-fusaka-fork-explained-dummies-peerdas/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ethereum’s Fusaka fork explained for dummies: What the hell is PeerDAS?</a>

Higher activity, lower fees: Here’s what December’s onchain data shows

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