Ethereum (ETH) price activity in December showed a range contraction around the $3,000 level and appears to have a breakout potential, while on-chain data is recording unusual signals.
What are these signals and do they have a positive or negative impact on ETH price?
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Ethereum transaction numbers surge in December
According to data from CryptoQuant, the number of transactions on the Ethereum network spiked at the end of December. The number of transactions per day exceeded 2.1 million. This was the highest level since 2023.
This is also a record number for the past 10 years, according to EtherScan data.
Notably, this surge occurred despite a significant correction in ETH above $4,500 to around $2,900. This data highlights a clear disconnect between price movements and on-chain usage.
This spike could also reflect large-scale ETH circulation. This suggests that holders may have a specific strategy in place.
“Ethereum processed 2,230,801 transactions in one day, the highest in its 10-year history. Fees were less than $0.01. Finality was stable. No congestion, no drama. After years of scaling efforts, usage is returning to L1. Performance is bringing users home,” commented investor BMNR Bullz.
Analysis by CryptoQuant authors suggests that such spikes are a sign of panic selling when they appear during a downtrend. However, they reflect ETH’s growth potential if supported by positive fundamentals.
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Even if the signal is neutral, it can still tilt positively. Two additional indicators support this view.
First, the number of smart contracts deployed on Ethereum has reached an all-time high. In Q4 2025, more than 8.7 million new contracts were deployed. This was the highest level ever recorded.
This number is significantly higher than last quarter and demonstrates strong ecosystem expansion. This also helps explain the growing demand for ETH transfers.
Developers are increasingly using Ethereum as a payment layer. Growth will be driven by real-world asset tokenization (RWA), stablecoin activity, and core infrastructure development.
The second factor is the increase in ETH in the staking queue. On the last day of December, the validator entry queue continued to grow, with a total of 890,000 ETH in the queue. Bitmine’s ETH staking activity may have spurred this surge.
The increase in ETH entering the staking queue coincided with an abnormal increase in network transfer volume. This timing further explains the observed surge.
Despite these positive on-chain signals, ETH price is still stuck near the $3,000 level. BeInCrypto’s recent analysis suggests that ETH is forming a bearish setup, coupled with selling pressure from US-based investors.
