A report issued by the Flipside platform showed that the year 2024 witnessed a significant growth in cryptocurrency prices, but the number of blockchain network users did not increase at the same pace, with the exception of the “Base” network of Coinbase.
Outstanding performance for both Base and Ethereum:
Base has seen unprecedented growth, growing its user base 56x over the year, with 13.7 million new users registered in October, eight times the next highest blockchain, Polygon.
Base also attracted over 15.1 million users who conducted 100+ decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions, outperforming Ethereum by 38.4%.
Ethereum, in turn, recorded strong growth with an average of 1.56 million monthly acquired users, outpacing layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum and Optimism.
Its active DeFi users have reached around 10.9 million, cementing its position as a mainnet.
Despite Bitcoin hitting record highs of over $100,000 and the launch of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the number of users acquired has only grown by an average of 935,900 per month.
The number rose 19.2% in March during the big rally, but fell 28.5% after the November election, indicating more speculative activity than new users.
Impact of institutional developments:
Growing institutional acceptance has helped drive some of the growth, while Grayscale’s listing of new cryptocurrencies as “assets under consideration” has boosted market momentum.
Meanwhile, Uniswap has continued to consolidate its dominance over Base and Ethereum, reflecting a shift toward the use of decentralized platforms on specific networks that offer more opportunities for growth and expansion.
