Cardano sees $1.8M in fees amid 126% ADA price surge

Cardano (CRYPTO:ADA) experienced a significant surge in both price and activity during the fourth quarter of 2024, leading to a notable increase in transaction fees.

According to Messari's latest report, transaction fees in USD rose by 254% QoQ to $1.8 million, marking a 95% year-over-year increase.

This surge was primarily driven by higher token prices and increased transaction activity on the Cardano network.

ADA's price skyrocketed by 126% in Q4 2024, pushing its market capitalisation to $30.3 billion.

This price jump elevated ADA's circulating market cap rank from 11th to 9th.

The increase in price and market cap coincided with the US election in November and a broader cryptocurrency market rally.

The number of average daily transactions on Cardano climbed by 65% QoQ to 71,500.

The average daily active addresses also saw a 58% QoQ increase, reaching 42,900.

The average transaction fee in USD increased by 80% to $0.23, while the fee in ADA saw a slight decrease.

Cardano's DeFi ecosystem witnessed substantial growth, with the average daily DEX volume surging by 271% QoQ to $8.9 million.

Minswap (CRYPTO:MIN), WingRiders (CRYPTO:WRT), and SundaeSwap (CRYPTO:SUNDAE) led this surge.

The network's DeFi total value locked (TVL) in USD increased by 13% QoQ to $231.6 million.

Liqwid experienced a remarkable 141% surge in TVL.

The stablecoin market capitalisation on Cardano also saw significant growth, increasing by 66% QoQ.  

iUSD and DJED saw their market caps rise by 20% and 41%, respectively.

Despite the growth in many areas, Cardano's average daily DApp transactions fell 8% QoQ.  

Minswap, Liqwid Finance (CRYPTO:LQ), and jpg.store were the top-performing DApps by transaction volume.

The network efficiently managed the higher transaction load without significant changes in native costs.

At the time of reporting, the Cardano (ADA) price was $0.7441.