Ethereum News: Transaction Fees Halve Amid Declining User Activity, While Coinbase Faces Centralization Concerns

Recent developments in the Ethereum ecosystem have sparked discussions among traders and developers about the network’s future. Here’s a summary of the key news.

Ethereum Fees Crash 50% as User Activity Drops

Ethereum transaction fees have dropped by 50 percent in the last seven days due to a significant slowdown in on-chain activity and user engagement. This decline reflects a broader drop in on-chain engagement, raising concerns among traders and developers. market watchers are now assessing the long-term implications for Ethereum’s scalability and ecosystem health.

Coinbase Achieves High Uptime as Centralization Concerns Arise

Coinbase has emerged as the top Ethereum validator, controlling 11.42% of all staked ETH as of March 2025, equivalent to 3.84 million ETH valued at $6.8 billion. The crypto exchange runs 120,000 validators, making it the largest single node operator on the network. This concentrated grip has raised decentralization concerns as Ethereum aims to spread power wider through proof-of-stake. In comparison, Lido, the biggest collective staking outfit, holds 27.3% of staked ETH but splits it across multiple operators. Some Twitter users have expressed the need for more distributed validation.

Fidelity Files for OnChain U.S. Treasury Fund

Fidelity Investments has filed paperwork to register a blockchain-based, tokenized version of its U.S. dollar money market fund. According to a Friday filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company seeks to register an ’OnChain’ share class of its Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYHXX) and use blockchains as transfer agent. The OnChain class of the fund currently uses the Ethereum (ETH) network and may expand to other blockchains in the future. The registration is subject to regulatory approval, with the product expected to become effective on May 30.

Ethereum Price Slips Below $2K Again

As bearish patterns intensify, Ethereum dips under $2,000 again. Technical analyst MadWhale identified $2,200 as a key resistance zone, warning that ETH could drop 13% if it fails to break above, potentially revisiting the $1,700 support level. At the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH) traded at $1,988, with a market cap of roughly $240 billion.