Ethereum set a new milestone on Sunday, January 11, 2026, with 393,600 new wallets created in just 24 hours,the highest daily total in the network’s history. The surge came even while ETH remains below its 2025 price peak, pointing to growing real-world usage rather than purely speculative interest.
Data from Santiment shows Ethereum averaged more than 327,000 new addresses per day over the past week, with the record driven by a mix of network upgrades, rising stablecoin activity, and improving market sentiment. A key factor was the Fusaka upgrade, rolled out in early December 2025, which lowered costs and made it easier for Layer-2 networks and decentralized apps to interact with the main chain, encouraging new users to create wallets.
Stablecoins also played a major role. Ethereum processed about $8 trillion in stablecoin transfers in Q4 2025, the highest quarterly total ever, reinforcing its position as a backbone for digital payments and settlements.
At the same time, sentiment among ETH holders has improved since mid-December, moving from negative to neutral or mildly positive, a shift that often coincides with fresh retail participation.
ETH was trading near $3,300, up around 6% over the past day and about 2% for the week, though it still trails the broader crypto market and remains roughly 33% below its all-time high near $4,900. Analysts are watching key resistance levels around $3,450 and $3,700.
Meanwhile, derivatives activity is picking up again. Ethereum open interest on Binance has climbed to roughly $8.6 billion, its highest level since October, signaling traders are rebuilding positions. Combined with record wallet growth, the data suggests Ethereum’s ecosystem is gaining momentum even before a full price breakout.
