Ethereum (ETH): Gas fees double in June, signaling buyer exhaustion?

The transaction fees on the Ethereum network (ETH) saw a significant increase in June 2026, doubling compared to the previous month. According to AMBCrypto data, the average gas fees for standard transactions rose from 0.057 gwei to 0.114 gwei, while the average base fee reached 0.113376445 gwei, with peaks at 0.125814089 gwei for priority transactions. This trend occurs in a context of volatile markets and increased monitoring of the health of major blockchains. Ethereum, which remains the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization (1,290.70 billion dollars according to CryptoScore Pro), continues to face persistent scalability challenges despite recent updates like Dencun. The daily transaction volume remains high, with over 1.2 million operations per day, a level comparable to that of 2024. What happened The increase in gas fees on Ethereum was accompanied by higher costs for users. The average fees for a simple ETH transfer reached $2.10 in June, compared to $1.10 in May 2026. For decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions, such as those on Uniswap or Aave, fees exceeded $10 during congestion periods, limiting accessibility for small investors. The usage rate of Layer 2 solutions, such as Arbitrum or Optimism, remains stable at around 60% of Ethereum transactions. However, fees on these networks remain high compared to alternatives like Solana or Base. No official announcement regarding a new major update, such as an enhanced version of Dencun, was made by the Ethereum Foundation for June 2026. Why this matters The gas fees on Ethereum reflect the balance between supply and demand on the network. A rise in costs may indicate either increased demand or network saturation. In the current context, the double increase in June could signal a buyer exhaustion : after a period of high speculation, investors may reduce their activities, leading to lower volumes and a correction in prices. This situation coincided with a 3% drop in the ETH price over seven days, falling from $3,450 to $3,350, according to CoinGecko. Investors perceive high fees as a barrier to adoption and profitability of DeFi applications. In the long term, prolonged congestion could slow innovation within the Ethereum ecosystem, favoring the use of alternative blockchains like Solana, Avalanche, or Base, which offer significantly lower fees. Layer 2 solutions could benefit from this congestion, but if their fees remain high, it could accelerate the adoption of competing networks. Additionally, stricter cryptocurrency regulations, particularly in the United States or Europe, could impact Ethereum, targeting DeFi applications or smart contracts specifically. To watch The Pectra update, scheduled for late 2026, is expected to introduce major improvements in scalability and fee reduction. An official announcement about its timeline could reassure investors. The adoption of Layer 2 solutions: if fees on Arbitrum or Optimism remain high, this could accelerate the development of alternative solutions like zk-Rollups (StarkNet, zkSync). The evolution of the ETH price and transaction volumes, which could confirm or refute the hypothesis of buyer exhaustion. The performance of competing blockchains, particularly Solana and Base, whose fees and speed could attract some of Ethereum’s users and developers.