Cardano Transaction Volume Down 72.46% Year-on-Year as Fees Remain Low

Cardano's transaction fees over the past year accounted for only 0.668% of staking rewards. Daily average transactions also fell by 72.46% compared to 2022, highlighting a gap between processing capacity and actual demand. Bitquery analyzed 73 epochs from September 1, 2025, to September 1, 2026. User fees totaled 3.3 million ADA, while staking rewards amounted to 493.7 million ADA, representing a fee-to-reward ratio of 0.668%. The gap between fees and rewards was approximately 149.6 times, with Bitquery noting that the unspent ADA reserves play a significant role in reward funding.

Transaction activity has declined significantly, with daily average transactions dropping from 92,940 in 2022 to 24,869 for January-August 2026. However, transaction volume alone does not necessarily reflect a proportional decrease in active users, as bots and exchanges may account for multiple transactions. Bot-related transactions rose from 11.5% of total activity in 2022 to 32.8% in 2026.

Staking participation also declined. The proportion of ADA staked among circulating supply fell from 75.6% at the end of 2022 to 58.3% by the last epoch analyzed. Bitquery did not directly link this decline to weakened network security, but noted it reflects changes in reward structure and participation behavior.

Cardano's rewards come from both transaction fees and unspent ADA reserves. The official documentation states that each epoch includes a portion of transaction fees and reserves in the reward pool. Bitquery estimated Cardano's reserves at around 6.1 billion ADA as of early September 2026. With low fee contribution to rewards, reserve depletion could impact long-term reward sustainability.

Transaction fees are calculated based on variable and fixed components. The developer portal suggests standard transfer fees range from 0.17-0.20 ADA. Fees are distributed among staking pools participating in block production for the epoch rather than directly to individual block producers. Increased transactions would be necessary for network activity and fee revenue growth.

Cardano is also working on improving processing capacity. The August-released MusashiNet testnet recorded about six times the mainnet's throughput under synthetic traffic conditions. However, testnet performance does not guarantee increased user or application adoption. IO Labs aims to deploy Leios on mainnet by December 2026, though this timeline remains subject to community review and on-chain governance.

Community feedback on Leios includes both positive assessments of the testnet's throughput improvements and concerns that technical performance may not translate directly to increased user activity. Current data shows Cardano faces the challenge of expanding actual transaction and application demand alongside capacity upgrades.