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Executive Summary:
As of January 13, 2026, Ethereum trades at $3,131, down approximately 6% year-over-year from January 1, 2025's $3,337 opening. Despite reaching a new all-time high of $4,953 on August 24, 2025, the subsequent decline has returned ETH to negative annual performance.
Q4 2025 exposed a growing divergence: adoption metrics surged while L1 value capture deteriorated. Real Economic Value contracted 73% for the full year. L2s paid just $766,000 in settlement fees to L1 in Q4, a 94% collapse YoY.
The Central Question: Is Ethereum deliberately sacrificing near-term revenue to win the infrastructure war? Or does the current architecture permanently route economic value away from ETH holders?
Dive into the full report to explore the data behind this divergence and discover our verdict on Ethereum’s evolving economic model.
