以太坊2026年第1四半期レビュー：オンチェーンアクティビティが過去最高を記録、トークン化資産が業界をリード

Original Author: Token Terminal

Original Translation: Saoirse, Foresight News

Ethereum is the core underlying settlement network for on-chain assets, relying on ETH for transaction fees and staking to maintain network security. Traditional finance suffers from slow settlement, numerous intermediaries, and high counterparty risk, while tokenized assets and stablecoins offer on-chain solutions. As related regulations mature between 2025 and 2026, institutional deployments of on-chain businesses have formally become viable.

Various stablecoins, tokenized funds, commodities, and on-chain stocks are issued and settled on Ethereum. Layer 2 networks divert transactions but ultimately return to Layer 1 for final confirmation, allowing ETH to continuously accumulate value. By market capitalization, Ethereum remains the world's largest platform for tokenized assets, operated jointly by the Ethereum Foundation and developer community. Teams like Etherealize specifically engage traditional financial institutions to drive institutional capital inflow. In Q1 2026, the Ethereum ecosystem showed a polarized trend. The following analysis provides a detailed breakdown using complete data from Token Terminal.

Q1 2026 presented a stark two-sided market condition: on-chain usage hit an all-time high – monthly active users, total transactions, and throughput all set new records. However, asset values denominated in USD and fee metrics simultaneously contracted, with fully diluted market cap, total value locked, trading volume, and both types of fee data declining quarter-over-quarter. Key events this quarter profoundly shaped this unique market scenario:

In January, the second round of the Fusaka upgrade cycle, specifically the Blob Parameter Only fork (BPO#2), was implemented, significantly enhancing data storage capacity.

In February, the ERC-8004 standard went live on the mainnet, becoming a universal standard for AI agent identity and credit rating.

The Ethereum Foundation established three core goals for the 2026 protocol: scaling, improving user experience, and strengthening Layer 1 underlying security.

In March, the Institutional Ethereum Forum was held, showing a marked increase in engagement from traditional financial institutions.

Q1 2026 Key Metrics Overview

Ecosystem Total Value Locked: $316.2 billion (QoQ -11.0%, YoY +22.8%)

Ecosystem Active Outstanding Loans: $21.8 billion (QoQ -16.6%, YoY +39.0%)

Ecosystem Decentralized Exchange Total Trading Volume: $134.5 billion (QoQ -24.0%, YoY -31.2%)

Total Ecosystem Application Fee Revenue: $2.0 billion (QoQ -16.9%, YoY -7.8%)

Total Market Cap of On-Chain Tokenized Assets: $203.4 billion (QoQ -0.7%, YoY +42.9%)

Stablecoins: $178.9 billion (QoQ -2.3%, YoY +37.6%)

Tokenized Funds: $19.4 billion (QoQ +4.9%, YoY +73.1%)

Tokenized Commodities: $4.7 billion (QoQ +60.0%, YoY +325.9%)

Tokenized Stocks: $365.1 million (QoQ +16.5%)

Monthly Active User Addresses: 13.2 million (QoQ +53.5%, YoY +85.9%)

Total Layer 1 Transactions: 200.4 million (QoQ +38.0%, YoY +81.5%)

Average Transactions Per Second: 25.78 (QoQ +41.2%, YoY +81.7%)

Total Layer 1 Mainnet Transaction Fee Revenue: $39.9 million (QoQ -47.9%, YoY -81.9%)

ETH Fully Diluted Market Cap: $290 billion (QoQ -30.3%, YoY -9.9%)

ETH Staking Ratio: 0.31 (QoQ and YoY increase of 0.03)

Total ETH Holding Addresses: 292.8 million (QoQ +8.1%, YoY +24.9%)

Note: The statistics in this report cover only the Ethereum Layer 1 mainnet. Layer 2 networks are treated as independent blockchains, and their data is not included in Ethereum's statistical scope.

Overall Ecosystem Development

Total Value Locked (TVL) refers to the total USD value of assets deposited in various on-chain applications. It is a leading indicator for revenue-generating activities like lending, trading, and staking. This metric represents the on-chain funds that users can withdraw at any time across the entire Ethereum ecosystem. In Q1 2026, the average TVL of the Ethereum ecosystem reached $316.2 billion, down 11.0% QoQ but up 22.8% YoY. The QoQ decline stems from the overall price correction in crypto assets, while the significant YoY growth proves the ecosystem has achieved substantial expansion compared to the same period last year.

Among the top five major public chains, Ethereum's TVL dominance is unparalleled: $316.2 billion far exceeds the combined total of Tron ($84.5B), Solana ($28.8B), BNB Chain ($10.3B), and Plasma ($5.7B), accounting for 71% of the TVL across these five chains. Capital is concentrated in two main tracks: the liquid staking track led by Lido, and the lending track centered on Aave. Restaking protocols like EigenLayer and ether.fi, along with synthetic dollar stablecoin platforms like Ethena and Sky, also hold significant amounts of capital. This high concentration of capital is Ethereum's most prominent structural advantage.

The active loans metric represents the scale of deposits lent out by users generating interest income, directly reflecting lending business revenue. This metric counts the total outstanding loans across all Ethereum lending applications. In Q1, the average active loan scale was $21.8 billion, down 16.6% QoQ but up 39.0% YoY. The contraction in loan balances alongside TVL reflects a cooling of overall market risk appetite, though the scale remains significantly higher than last year.

The Ethereum lending market is concentrated in a few pools, with Aave dominating: active loans at the end of the quarter were approximately $13.5 billion, holding the vast majority of the ecosystem's share. It is followed by Morpho (~$1.9B), Spark under Sky (~$1B), and Maple (~$0.84B). The contraction in lending scale this quarter was primarily driven by Aave, as the decline in crypto asset prices led to cooling lending demand, with its total lending volume shrinking by about 24%. Compared horizontally across the five major chains, Ethereum's $21.8 billion in active loans far surpasses Solana ($2.5B), Plasma ($2.1B), BNB Chain ($0.7608B), and Avalanche ($0.3924B), capturing 79.2% of the total lending across these five chains – the highest proportion for Ethereum in any tracked sector.

Decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume refers to the total value of transactions completed on on-chain spot exchanges. Traders pay fees when trading, making volume highly correlated with platform revenue. This data aggregates DEX trading across the entire Ethereum ecosystem. In Q1, total ecosystem trading volume was $134.5 billion, down 24% QoQ and 31.2% YoY. The decline in volume exceeding the contraction in TVL confirms a significant reduction in market risk appetite during this quarter's asset downturn.

Ethereum DEX trading volume is highly concentrated on top platforms: Uniswap's Q1 volume was approximately $85.5 billion, accounting for two-thirds of the ecosystem's total. It is followed by Curve (~$22.1B) and CoW Swap (~$12.4B). Trading volume is the only metric where Ethereum did not top the five major chains: BNB Chain's total volume of $162.5 billion exceeded Ethereum's $134.5 billion, with Solana close behind ($104.9B), and Avalanche ($14.5B) and Polygon ($10.7B) ranking lower. Ethereum's trading volume represented 31.5% of the total across the five chains, second only to BNB Chain's 38%.

Ecosystem fees refer to all expenses incurred by users using various applications, including borrower interest and trader transaction fees. They intuitively reflect the economic value created by the ecosystem and represent the sum of fees across all Ethereum applications. In Q1, total ecosystem fees reached $2.0 billion, down 16.9% QoQ and 7.8% YoY, declining in tandem with lower trading and lending activity.

Ethereum's $2.0 billion in ecosystem fees far surpasses Tron ($599.3M), Solana ($532.5M), BNB Chain ($231.9M), and Polygon ($38.8M), capturing 58.4% of the total fees across the five major chains. Even with the QoQ decline, Ethereum remains the largest source of application fees in the industry. Summarizing all metrics in this section: Ethereum leads the industry comprehensively in TVL, lending scale, and ecosystem fees, only lagging behind BNB Chain in DEX trading volume.

Tokenized Assets Sector

Total Market Cap of Circulating Assets refers to the total value of on-chain tokenized assets, calculated as circulating supply multiplied by the closing price for the day. For stablecoins, it takes the total circulating issuance. For tokenized funds, it's the on-chain assets under management. For tokenized stocks, it's the total value of on-chain issued shares. This section only counts assets issued on Ethereum.

In Q1, the average total market cap of Ethereum tokenized assets was $203.4 billion, essentially flat QoQ (down only 0.7%) but up significantly by 42.9% YoY. Stablecoins account for 87.9% of the total scale, with the remaining share distributed among tokenized funds, commodities, and stocks.

Stablecoins

In Q1, the average scale of Ethereum stablecoins was $178.9 billion, down slightly by 2.3% QoQ but up 37.6% YoY. This was the only tokenized sub-sector to see a QoQ contraction. The market is dominated by two major issuers: at the end of the quarter, Tether (USDT, $94.1B) and Circle (USDC, $54.5B) together held the vast majority of Ethereum's stablecoin market cap. Other top products include Sky USDS ($12.4B), Ethena USDe ($5.9B), and PayPal PYUSD ($2.9B). New compliant stablecoins like Ripple's RLUSD ($1.1B) have also launched. Compared horizontally across the five major chains, Ethereum's $178.9 billion in stablecoins leads Tron ($84.5B), Solana ($14.5B), Arbitrum One ($6.8B), and Base ($4.7B), accounting for 61.8% of the total stablecoin supply across these five chains.

Tokenized Funds

In Q1, the average scale of Ethereum tokenized funds was $19.4 billion, up 4.9% QoQ and a staggering 73.1% YoY. This sector is divided into two main types:

Yield-bearing on-chain dollar products (largest scale): Sky sUSDS (~$6.4B), Ethena sUSDe (~$3.5B).

Traditional finance compliant funds (core vehicle for institutional narrative): BlackRock BUIDL (issued via Securitize, ~$1.0B), WisdomTree Government Money Market Fund (~$0.815B), Superstate USTB (~$0.62B), followed by Ondo OUSG (~$0.32B). Comparing across the five major chains, Ethereum's $19.4 billion in tokenized funds far surpasses ZKsync Era ($2.5B), BNB Chain ($2.3B), Solana ($1.3B), and Stellar ($1.1B), accounting for 73% of the total – the tokenized asset sector where Ethereum holds its second strongest advantage.

Tokenized Commodities

In Q1, the average scale of Ethereum tokenized commodities was $4.7 billion, up 60% QoQ and a massive 325.9% YoY, making it the fastest-growing tokenized category. This sector is almost entirely composed of on-chain gold: Tether Gold (XAUT, ~$2.6B) and Paxos Gold (PAXG, ~$2.4B) together account for the entire sector's share. Horizontally compared across five relevant public chains, Ethereum's $4.7 billion scale vastly exceeds Ripple ($736.6M), Arbitrum One ($95.9M), BNB Chain ($38.4M), and Solana ($29.8M), capturing 84% of the total – the sub-sector where Ethereum has its strongest dominance.

Tokenized Stocks

Tokenized stocks are the smallest sub-sector. In Q1, Ethereum's average scale was $365.1 million. The scale was nearly zero in the same period last year, showing a 16.5% QoQ increase. This sector is almost exclusively dominated by Ondo Finance, which issues on-chain assets tracking the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 broad indices, and dozens of individual stocks, constituting the vast majority of Ethereum's tokenized stock market cap. Horizontally compared across five chains, Ethereum's $365.1 million slightly leads Solana ($249M), BNB Chain ($150.5M), Arbitrum One ($29M), and Stellar ($4.2M). However, it only accounts for 45.8% of the total tokenized stocks across these five chains – the only tokenized asset sector where Ethereum does not hold an absolute majority share.

Summarizing the tokenized assets sector: Stablecoin inventory slightly declined in Q1, but Ethereum's monopoly position in the tokenized funds and commodities sectors continues to strengthen.

On-Chain Usage Activity

Monthly Active Users (MAU) are defined as unique addresses that initiate revenue-generating on-chain transactions each month. This metric only counts addresses interacting with the Ethereum Layer 1 mainnet. In Q1, the average MAU was 13.2 million, surging 53.5% QoQ and 85.9% YoY, hitting an all-time high. This breaks the slow growth trend of previous quarters, showing a significant acceleration in user growth.

Total Transactions refers to the number of transactions written and confirmed on the blockchain, reflecting the intensity of user on-chain interaction. Transactions Per Second (TPS) is the average confirmation rate over the period, measuring the network's real-time capacity. Both metrics only count the Ethereum Layer 1 mainnet. In Q1, Layer 1 total transactions were 200.4 million, up 38% QoQ and 81.5% YoY. The average TPS increased to 25.78, up 41.2% QoQ. Both figures set new all-time highs, proving