New users flock to Ethereum while long-term holders are less active than ever

Quick Take

The supply of ether that has been moved in the past one year, three years, and five years is currently at its lowest recorded level, according to The Block’s data.
However, Ethereum saw an uptick of new addresses in March, the best month for new addresses since November 2021.

Long-term holders of ether, the currency of the Ethereum blockchain, appear to be holding on tighter than ever before.

According to data from The Block, the active supply of ether, or the supply that has been moved from one wallet to another within certain time periods, is currently at a historical low point for periods of one year or longer. The active supply over 30- and 90-days is also near all-time lows, having fallen over half from their peaks.

While the supply of ether active within one year has declined over the past twelve months by about 9%, the supply of active bitcoin, after also hitting a record low, staged a recovery to end the period with a gain of around 1% in one-year active supply. Bitcoin's recovery greatly reduced the large gap that once existed in active supply between the two top cryptocurrencies by market cap.

While long term Ethereum users appear to be showing low activity, with enthusiasm around Base reaching record levels, new users appear to be flooding into the Ethereum ecosystem. Last month, Ethereum added 3.66 million new addresses, the highest level since November 2021, the month of FTX's collapse.

Ethereum also underwent the Dencun upgrade last month, introducing "blobs" in order to lower Layer 2 network transaction costs.

The number of active addresses on the network, measured as a seven-day moving average, has increased as a result, suggesting that the newer activity is more than enough to make up for the more conservative behavior of long-term holders.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.