Several major blockchain networks processed a higher number of transactions in December even as user fees declined, suggesting that recent scaling upgrades are increasing throughput and reducing competition for block space, according to data compiled by Nansen.

Nansen’s figures show that Bitcoin, Tron, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche and The Open Network (TON) all recorded increases in transaction activity compared with the previous period, while fee revenue fell sharply across these networks.

Transaction counts on Ethereum rose by 16% despite a 57% drop in fee revenue. Polygon displayed a similar divergence, with transactions surging 82% while fees declined 47%. Arbitrum and Avalanche also showed a clear pattern of rising activity alongside falling fees.

Tron, Bitcoin and TON posted more modest transaction growth of 0.6%, 7.7% and 7.9%, respectively, but all three networks also saw fee revenue decline, reinforcing the broader trend of easing block space pressure.

Scaling upgrades reshape demand dynamics

The data points to a structural shift in how blockchains absorb demand. Scaling improvements, rollups and lower-cost execution environments have expanded capacity without triggering congestion or aggressive bidding for inclusion.

Nansen notes that its percentage-change metrics are based on recent activity baselines rather than strict month-over-month comparisons. As a result, sharp reversals in usage can appear as declines exceeding 100%, reflecting momentum shifts rather than literal negative transaction counts.

On Nov. 27, Ethereum increased its block gas limit to 60 million, allowing more transactions and smart contract calls per block and easing congestion. This effect was amplified in December by the Fusaka upgrade, which introduced PeerDAS to significantly boost data availability and lower rollup costs, reducing overall fee pressure even as usage increased.

Polygon followed a similar trajectory after deploying its Madhugiri hard fork in early December. The upgrade reduced consensus time to one second and targeted throughput gains of up to 33%, while making gas-intensive operations more efficient and predictable. The network emphasized use cases such as stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization, which tend to generate frequent but low-urgency transactions that lift volumes without pushing fees higher.

The transaction growth in Avalanche appears to stem from a mix of ecosystem activity. Nansen Research attributed the increase to stablecoin payments, institutional settlement and consumer-facing platforms such as ticketing and gaming. These use cases support high throughput while creating limited competition for block space, allowing fees to remain subdued.

Patterns seen in Arbitrum reflect the economics of rollup scaling. By batching transactions off-chain and posting compressed data to Ethereum, the network can increase volumes without a proportional rise in fees. Its fee model separates execution costs from Ethereum calldata costs, helping to dampen fee volatility during periods of higher load.

Activity cools on some chains

Not all networks experienced the same divergence between transactions and fees. Several blockchains saw both metrics decline, indicating a quieter onchain environment over the past month.

BNB Chain recorded a sharp contraction, with transactions down 79% and fee revenue falling 14%. Base and HyperEVM saw some of the steepest pullbacks, as Base transactions dropped 75% alongside a 63% decline in fees, while HyperEVM posted a 119% decrease in transactions and a 46% drop in fee revenue, pointing to reduced short-term usage in December.

Solana remained the busiest network with 1.7 billion transactions, though this still represented a 21% decline over the period, according to Nansen. Fee revenue on Solana also fell by 17%.

These synchronized slowdowns align with broader cryptocurrency market conditions. CoinGecko data shows total crypto market capitalization fluctuating between $2.9 trillion and $3.1 trillion throughout December, with muted price action, lower volatility and limited capital rotation contributing to cooler onchain activity across multiple networks.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/higher-activity-lower-fees-december-onchain-data

https://research.nansen.ai/articles/avalanche-q3-2025-ecosystem-report

https://app.nansen.ai/macro/blockchains?chain=bnb

https://app.nansen.ai/macro/blockchains

https://www.coingecko.com/en/charts