A recent surge in Ethereum network activity may be linked to address poisoning attacks exploiting lower transaction fees, according to a security researcher.
Researcher Andrey Sergeenkov said Ethereum has seen unusually high address creation and transaction volumes since December.
Network activity retention reportedly climbed to nearly 8 million addresses in a single month.
Daily Ethereum transactions reached an all-time high of close to 2.9 million.
The week beginning Jan. 12 recorded 2.7 million new addresses, around 170% above typical levels.
Sergeenkov said daily transactions also surged beyond 2.5 million during the same period.
He suggested the spike may be driven by mass spam campaigns known as address poisoning attacks.
These attacks have become cheaper after Ethereum’s December Fusaka upgrade reduced gas fees.
Network transaction fees fell by more than 60% in the weeks following the upgrade.
“Address poisoning has become disproportionately attractive for attackers,”
Andrey Sergeenkov said.