Ethereum (ETH), the second largest blockchain-based platform with a market capitalization of over $30 billion, has experienced a significant increase in the number of daily transactions settled on its network.

On May 27, 2019, more than 942,000 transactions were registered on the leading smart contract platform. On May 29, the Ethereum blockchain processed over 947,000 ETH transactions.

Ethereum Network Activity Approaching Levels Seen in Last Bull Market

As confirmed by TrustNodes, Ethereum transactions have surged to their highest level since early February 2018. Notably, the activity level on the ETH blockchain is approaching levels last seen when the ether price reached its all-time high of $1,432.88 on January 13, 2018.

Although there was a significant drop in the total ETH transactions processed daily during February 2019 (due to the increase in Ethereum network block times), the activity on the blockchain platform is now increasing steadily.

Since March of this year, the number of ether transactions has been rising and the price of ETH has also surged to currently around $283.7 according to CryptoCompare data. This, after the ether price dropped below $100 in early December 2018.

Ether Price Recovering After Falling Below $100

The sharp decline in ETH price last year may partially be attributed to a relatively large number of blockchain startups selling their ether holdings in order to cover operational expenses. Moreover, the crypto token’s value may have plummeted due to a significant drop (at that time) in the price of bitcoin, the world’s most dominant cryptocurrency.

However, the cryptoasset market has started recovering after enduring an extended bear market that lasted throughout 2018. One of the primary reasons cryptocurrency prices have been increasing recently might be the launch of many new digital asset-focused projects.

Decentralized Finance Market Cap Approaching $600 Million

For example, the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem has been growing rapidly and it mainly consists of Ethereum-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending products – including MakerDAO, Compound, Dharma, among others. The current market capitalization of the nascent DeFi market stands at over $583 million according to data from DefiPulse

Other leading Ethereum-based decentralized exchange (DEX) protocols such as Uniswap and Bancor have also been experiencing increased activity. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin Lightning Network, which is also considered a part of the evolving DeFi ecosystem, has seen a sharp rise in the number of nodes.

According to 1ML data, there are currently 8,579 LN nodes – which represents an increase of 4.49% in the past month. The network capacity of the Lightning Network stands at over 1,000 BTC, an amount currently valued at over $8.8 million.