Ethereum is scaling into its role as the neutral settlement layer. Value accrues across L2s and applications — not from squeezing L1 fees. The paradox is, on a usage versus revenue basis, Ethereum appears to be both winning and losing.

Consider this:

Throughput up: monthly transactions and unique active addresses are at, or near, highs.

Cost down: median and average tx fees sit near cycle lows; base-fee gwei is low and steady.

Mix shift: rollups are stuffing blobs at record levels; users trade more, especially stables, without pushing L1 fees up.

Revenue craters: base-fee burn + tips are far below 2021–22; net issuance is low but generally positive.

The…

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