Ethereum reported strong growth across decentralized finance (DeFi) and stablecoin activity in 2025.
This was mainly because lower transaction costs and expanding infrastructure contributed to increased usage across the network.
DeFi and Stablecoin Activity Increase
In a New Year’s post shared via X, the chain revealed that it recorded over $99 billion in total value locked during 2025, according to data from DefiLlama. This figure places Ethereum’s DeFi TVL at more than 9 times that of the next largest Layer 1 ecosystem. Stablecoin usage also remained high throughout the year, with $18.8 trillion settled on the network.
These figures coincided with a decline in transaction costs across the ecosystem. Fees on Ethereum Layer 1 fell to 5-year lows, while Layer 2 networks recorded transaction costs below $0.01, lowering expenses for payments, remittances, and savings-related activity. At the same time, expanded paymaster infrastructure enabled applications to cover the fees for users, often removing the need to hold ETH for gas.
Crypto platforms also expanded their use of Ethereum during 2025. Robinhood, Gemini, and Kraken all launched tokenized stocks on the chain using Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, therefore providing extended access to United States equities beyond standard market hours. Robinhood also announced plans to build its own Layer 2 network using Arbitrum’s Orbit technology.
Meanwhile, regulatory clarity supported the launch of new crypto-focused neobanks, which introduced payment cards and rewards programs while reporting millions of dollars in daily spending volume.
Network Upgrades and Ecosystem Expansion
Beyond DeFi and stablecoins, Ethereum’s ecosystem continued to expand across institutional and technical fronts. Institutional participation increased through the expansion of ETH digital asset treasuries, with more than $35 billion worth of ETH held in exchange-traded funds and strategic reserves.
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Additionally, more institutions used Ethereum smart contracts to manage capital on-chain, access DeFi-based yield strategies, and distribute over $12 billion in real-world assets.
The network’s rollup-focused roadmap also progressed during the year. Combined throughput across Layer 2 networks reached an average of 5,600 transactions per second, while the Fusaka upgrade, deployed in December, increased blob capacity and reduced Layer 2 costs. The Layer 1 gas limit was also raised to 60 million, expanding settlement capacity by approximately 33%.
Ethereum celebrated 10 years of being live in July 2025, which was marked by a record of more than 88 million smart contracts deployed, while daily transactions reached a new high of 1.74 million. Developer activity also remained elevated, with 32,000 active developers across the ecosystem and over 16,000 new ones joining between January and September.
