From Cointelegraph

April 17, 2025 01:30 AM:

Transaction costs on the Ethereum network have dropped to the lowest level in five years, with fees around $0.168 per transaction. This reduction is due to decreased activity, as fewer people are sending Ether and interacting with smart contracts. Santiment’s Brian Quinlivan explains this as a supply and demand system.

Despite low fees, traders are waiting for global economic uncertainty to pass before increasing their frequency of Ether and altcoin transactions. Traditional and crypto markets tanked after Trump’s tariffs announcement, with many assets not fully recovering. ETH has fallen 12.5% in the past 14 days, trading just under $1,600.

The Pectra upgrade for the Ethereum network is set to go live on May 7 after delays and issues during testnet activations. Phase one will double layer-2 blob capacity, reduce transaction fees, and allow fees to be paid in stablecoins like USDC and DAI. The staking limit will also increase to 2,048 ETH.

The second phase of Pectra, expected in late 2025 or early 2026, will enhance data storage efficiency and scalability. This follows the Dencun upgrade in March 2024, which reduced transaction fees for layer-2 networks and improved Ethereum rollups economics.

Read more at Cointelegraph: Ethereum fees drop to a 5-year low as transaction volumes lull