Ethereum

Fusaka

Carl

A combination of protocol-level upgrades, stablecoin activity, and a shift in crypto sentiment has helped push Ether wallet creation to its highest levels in history.&nbsp;
Over the last week, an average of <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/crypto-wallets-explained" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">327,000 new wallets</a> have been created per day, with Sunday recording the highest number ever for a single day at over 393,000, Santiment analysts <a href="https://x.com/santimentfeed/status/2011133508547195166" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> in an X post on Tuesday.
New wallets can signal that fresh users, developers, or <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/mysterious-institution-buys-nearly-1b-worth-ether-in-a-week" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">institutions are entering the ecosystem</a>.
Data also shows that non-empty Ether wallets are now at 172.9 million, which is also at an all-time high.
Ether (<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH</a>) is currently $3,330, up 7.5% in the last 24 hours after moving between $3,068 and $3,292 in the last week, <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/ethereum" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to CoinGecko.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2026-01/019bba0d-f986-7066-b71c-eec04981bd4f.jpg" title="" alt="Perfect storm of activity sees record surge in new Ethereum wallets">
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 An average of 327,000 new Ethereum wallets have been created every day over the last week. Source: <a href="https://x.com/santimentfeed/status/2011133508547195166/photo/1" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Santiment</a>
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Santiment analysts suggest the surge in new wallets could partly be because of the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/how-the-fusaka-upgrade-fits-into-ethereum-s-long-term-roadmap" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Fusaka upgrade in December</a>, which “made using Ethereum cheaper and easier,” by improving data handling on-chain and cutting the cost of posting information from L2 networks back to Ethereum.
“This reduced fees and made interacting with apps and rollups smoother, encouraging many new users to open wallets and start using the network,” they said.
<h2 id="crypto-sentiment-shift-and-stablecoins">Crypto sentiment shift and stablecoins</h2>
Along with the major protocol upgrade, Ethereum may also be benefiting from general sentiment improvement as investors and developers reset their strategies in the new year.&nbsp;
Santiment analysts said holder sentiment shifted from negative to neutral and positive in mid-December, “which often coincides with more retail users signing up and creating addresses.”
There was also more interest from new users to enter the ecosystem to explore DeFi, non-fungible tokens and other apps toward the end of the year.&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-2026-comeback-hinges-three-outcomes-wintermute" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Crypto’s 2026 comeback hinges on three outcomes, Wintermute says</a>
A spike in <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/stablecoin-transfer-volume-ethereum-tops-8t-q4-ath" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">stablecoin transfers on Ethereum in late 2025</a> could also be a factor, as it showed the “network was being actively used for payments and settlements,” according to Santiment.
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 “This kind of real financial activity tends to bring in new participants who create wallets to send, receive, or hold stablecoins and other tokens.”
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<h2 id="more-than-half-of-all-ether-is-in-staking">More than half of all Ether is in staking&nbsp;</h2>
More than half of the total supply of Ether is in staking contracts, <a href="https://app.nansen.ai/profiler?address=0x00000000219ab540356cbb839cbe05303d7705fa&amp;chain=all&amp;name=%F0%9F%A4%96+Ethereum+2.0%3A+ETH+Deposit+Contract&amp;tab=overview" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to on-chain analytics platform Nansen. The ETH2 Beacon Deposit Contract holds over 77 million tokens, representing the total of validator stake deposits used to secure the network.
Crypto exchange Binance holds nearly 4 million Ether in its wallets on behalf of users, while fellow exchange Coinbase has around 2.3 million.&nbsp;
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/crypto-market-bear-phase-youtube-views-influencers-carl-moon-runefelt-cointelegraph/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">One metric shows crypto is now in a bear market: Carl ‘The Moon’</a>

Perfect storm of activity sees record surge in new Ethereum wallets

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