Ethereum RWA and L1 liquidity surge as L2 activity cools—will ETH benefit?

Ethereum is consolidating as the settlement and liquidity hub while L2 usage cools. The report highlights that Ethereum controls 58% of the $16.5B real-world assets (RWA) market, supported by institutions seeking regulated, final settlement. On-chain indicators suggest value is staying on Ethereum mainnet: stablecoin supply on mainnet is about $163.3B. Fee economics also point to Ethereum L1 remaining economically “sticky,” with average base fees around 12.6 gwei and only ~267 ETH burned per week, consistent with weaker L2 burn contribution and demand concentrated where finality matters. User activity is fragmenting away from the base layer. The L2-to-L1 daily active users (DAU) ratio fell to 1.12 in Feb 2026 from 2025 highs, implying L2 growth has slowed. In parallel, the L2-to-ETH daily active addresses (DAA) ratio dropped to roughly 10–11 by 2026 (from ~15 mid-2024), reinforcing that L2 activity is weakening rather than expanding. However, Ethereum’s liquidity position looks stronger than its user activity. The L2-to-ETH stablecoin ratio peaked near 0.30 and is now around 0.20–0.22, suggesting capital remains anchored on the more secure layer. Catalyst from traditional finance: spot ETH products reportedly drew $9.9B inflows through 2025, with AUM exceeding $12B into 2026. The article’s core takeaway is that Ethereum’s capital base may strengthen, but ETH price performance depends on whether activity also returns to L1 rather than remaining passive on-chain liquidity. Keywords: Ethereum, RWA, L2 activity, L1 liquidity, ETH spot ETF inflows.