DeFi Analytics 4th April 2025

Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade

Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade - Ethereum’s upcoming Pectra upgrade is poised to have a meaningful impact on DeFi activity and network dynamics. With Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) that aim to enhance network scalability, staking efficiency, and user experience, the upgrade introduces structural changes that could shift key DeFi metrics in the weeks after implementation.

For a deeper dive into the technical improvements and broader market implications of Pectra, including insights on validator changes and blob space adjustments, read our full Ethereum upgrade report here.

Chain Fee Generation

Daily Fees Generated across Ethereum & Solana - Daily fee generation for both networks has shown a slight recovery from mid-March volumes, yet remains muted compared to the beginning of the month.

A varying cyclical trend has emerged - Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays tend to show higher volumes. Solana continues to outperform Ethereum, although the gap has narrowed this week, with peaks of $1.2 million for Solana and $770,000 for Ethereum.

Daily Fees Generated across Ethereum & Solana

Ethereum Gas Market

ETH Gas Fees - Hourly average gas fees burned per block remain negligible, with no notable spikes in demand. Early March saw peaks exceeding just 0.5 ETH. These levels are modest compared to previous months when demand was higher. Similarly, the cost to transfer ETH (21,000 Gas) remains low and unchanged to last week.

Hourly Average Gas Fees Burnt per Block

Hourly Average Cost to Transfer ETH (21,000 Gas)

ETH Blob Gas - Blob gas metrics shifted in the latter half of March. Although usage continued to hover around the 400K mark, there's a slight fall from this level as demand from Layer-2s for data uploads via blob gas reduces. Meanwhile, the hourly average of excess blob gas per block has increased from last week, though shows more drawdowns than historic highs.

‍Hourly Average Blob Gas Usage per Ethereum Block

Hourly Average Excess Blob Gas per Ethereum Block

Beacon Chain Balance

Beacon Chain - Since mid-March, the Beacon chain has seen a steady rise in the number of active validators. This increase indicates a strong demand for staking, as shown by the persistently high number of validators in the entry queue. In contrast, at the start of the month, the entry queue saw far fewer validators, with validators eligible to withdraw remaining high.

Uniswap V3

Uniswap V3 Hourly Volumes  - Arbitrum

Uniswap V3 - A similar picture to last week, Arbitrum’s hourly volumes remain overall below $100m, as trading demand stays low compared to early March. This is similarly reflected in the hourly transaction count, which has remained consistent with last week, fluctuating around 4k.

Uniswap V3 Hourly Transaction Count  - Arbitrum

Liquidations

Aggregate Liquidations across Aave & Compound - Users across both Aave and Compound experienced liquidations at the end of last week. This coincided with a sharp drop in BTC price from 88k to 82k as the market reacted to the macro landscape. Compound users appear to have been liquidated first, likely due to higher liquidation thresholds, while the scale of liquidations on Aave the following day was more significant.