Although Ether’s price movement has been sluggish, an increasing number of developers are opting for Ethereum as their settlement layer, with the fourth quarter set to establish a record period for the network.
Data from Token Terminal indicates that the number of new smart contracts created and deployed on the Ethereum blockchain reached a record-breaking 8.7 million in the fourth quarter.
This achievement signifies a strong recovery from the prior two quarters, during which contract deployment activity was notably lower.
Token Terminal reports that this surge reflects organic development driven by real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, stablecoin activity, and foundational infrastructure enhancements. The blockchain analytics platform stated, “Ethereum is quietly becoming the global settlement layer.”
The significance of this trend lies in the fact that contract deployment is often seen as a precursor to increased network activity, usually leading to growth in users, transaction fees, and maximal extractable value (MEV), the value gained by validators and block builders through the ordering of transactions.
Over time, these elements typically foster broader on-chain economic activity and can affect Ether’s (ETH) price dynamics.
Earlier this year, Ether briefly exceeded its prior all-time high, trading close to $5,000, before a sharp reversal followed the market-wide liquidation event on October 10. As of this writing, ETH is trading around $3,000.
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Ethereum continues to be a significant hub for crypto activity
As competition among layer-1 blockchains escalates, with competitors like Solana promoting high throughput and low fees, Avalanche concentrating on customizable subnets, and BNB Chain capitalizing on exchange-linked liquidity, data suggests that Ethereum remains a key component of the overall digital asset ecosystem.
Ethereum continues to dominate in RWA tokenization, holding the largest share of on-chain RWA market cap.
Researchers at RedStone have characterized Ethereum as the “institutional standard” for hosting tokenization projects, highlighting its security, liquidity depth, and established infrastructure.
Ethereum is also foundational to the stablecoin market. Out of the more than $307 billion in stablecoins currently circulating, over half are based on the Ethereum network, as per data from DefiLlama.
The stablecoin activity on the network is primarily driven by Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC), which together represent the majority of Ethereum-based supply.
Related: BitMine locks up $1B in Ether as big corporates stake ETH for yield
