Ethereum DeFi tokens see new wallet growth as Ethereum itself declines

Something interesting is happening on Ethereum. The network’s own activity metrics are sliding, but the DeFi protocols built on top of it are quietly thriving. Ethereum’s daily active addresses fell from over 1.5 million in January to roughly 544,000 by July, a decline of about 64%. At the same time, DeFi protocols like Aave are seeing a surge in new wallet creation, with Aave adding 1,806 new wallets on Ethereum on June 30 alone. That was its highest single-day total since October 2021. The numbers behind the divergence Ethereum’s broader network saw new-address creation average 327,000 per day in mid-January, with a single-day peak near 394,000. Those figures were boosted by the Fusaka upgrade in late 2025, which slashed transaction fees and made stablecoin transfers significantly cheaper. Total value locked across Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem held steady at roughly $41 billion as of July, showing resilience even as the headline metrics deteriorated. Data from analytics platforms including Santiment and Dune supports this read. Wallet growth in DeFi-specific protocols, particularly those focused on borrowing and lending, is outpacing the broader Ethereum trend. What’s driving DeFi w...