Original author: flipside
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Reposted by: Luke, Mars Finance
1. Introduction
Trends in On-Chain Users Towards 2025
2024 is a turning point year for Web3 user growth, as both new users and super users on major public chains reached historic highs. Public chains like Base are redefining what exponential growth looks like, while Ethereum and its L2 solutions demonstrate how a deeply rooted ecosystem can adapt to evolving user needs.
However, a deeper examination of the data shows that not all growth is of equal value—highlighting the importance of assessing quality, not just quantity, when evaluating on-chain activities.
To this end, this report leverages Flipside's real-time data on on-chain crypto users in 2024 to evaluate this year's cryptocurrency activity through more actionable multivariable metrics, providing a new way to assess the health of on-chain users in 2025.
Brief Summary
Behind the news of user growth lies a deeper challenge: how to build an ecosystem capable of fostering meaningful, lasting engagement rather than merely short-lived speculative behavior.
In short, most blockchains are still in the early stages of converting ordinary users into high-value contributors.
Acquisition of Users:
Base: In October 2024, a record of 19.4 million new users was achieved, with Base contributing 13.7 million users—almost 8 times that of the second-place Polygon.
BTC: BTC price reached a historic high of over $100,000, with the average monthly growth of new Bitcoin users being only 935,900, indicating that speculative activities are prevalent among existing users rather than significant new user entry.
ETH: The average monthly acquisition of users reached 1.56 million, surpassing Arbitrum and Optimism, with a month-over-month user growth of 33.4% in March. Notably, Arbitrum reached an impressive peak of 3.3 million new users in May.
Super User Situation:
Base: Attracted 15.1 million wallets that executed 100+ DeFi transactions, exceeding the second-ranked Ethereum's 10.7 million super users by 38.4%.
ETH: 10.9 million DeFi-related super users exceed the combined total of Arbitrum and Optimism (6.2 million and 1.8 million, respectively), highlighting Ethereum's advantages in liquidity and convenience.
Polygon: In 2024, 1.5 million new super users were added, and this year recorded 867.7 million super user transactions, highlighting its success in areas beyond DeFi.
DEX Usage:
Uniswap: Expanded its dominance on major public chains, capturing 91.3% of new user DEX activity on Base, and saw a market share increase of 27.72% compared to 2023 on Ethereum.
Despite Uniswap's growth, Trader Joe still maintains its leading position on Avalanche, with a market share of 61.1%, an increase of 6.1% compared to 2023.
Unlike 2023, in 2024, the top three DEXs for acquiring users and super users among all observed public chains are now consistent.
2. New Acquired Users
The number of new acquired users reached a monthly peak of 19.4 million in October 2024.
This year's on-chain user growth is led by Base, which contributed 13.7 million new acquired users—almost 8 times that of the second-ranked Polygon. Overall, this has been an impressive year for the entire on-chain user growth industry. The number of acquired users has maintained a continuous upward trend throughout 2024, with only a slight pullback in August.
Note: 'Acquired users' are defined as users who have conducted at least two transactions on a chain, with the second transaction occurring in 2024.
This sustained growth may be influenced by increased institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies, as reflected in a series of BTC and ETH ETFs announced earlier this year.
Other exciting developments in the first half of 2024 may have fueled this optimism, such as Grayscale listing several new cryptocurrencies as 'assets under consideration,' and the Federal Reserve cutting U.S. interest rates by 50 basis points during the September 2024 FOMC meeting—its first rate cut in four years.
The Amazing Growth of Base
Base started slowly in 2024 but has seen a 56-fold explosion in its monthly new acquired users since January.
Base had only 244,700 new users in January but experienced stable and significant growth throughout the year. By November, when it peaked, the monthly acquisition of users on the chain had increased 56-fold compared to January, averaging 4.7 million new users during 2024.
The performance of this chain greatly benefits from Coinbase's large user base, whose users collectively manage approximately $130 billion in assets. Popular DeFi protocols like Aerodrome may also have attracted users from other EVM chains, while Base successfully drove user interest through popular areas like memecoin trading and on-chain AI (such as new programs like Based Agents).
Bitcoin Performance
Despite BTC price reaching a historic high, it did not attract a large number of new users this year.
The number of new Bitcoin users remained relatively stable in 2024, despite a significant appreciation in BTC value. Overall, Bitcoin's average monthly acquisition of users this year was 935,900, ranking third from the bottom among the seven traditional public chains observed in this report.
This indicates that the appreciation of Bitcoin's price is mainly driven by the enthusiasm and speculative activities of its existing user base, while the effect of BTC price growth on attracting new users is inconsistent.
In March 2024, BTC's first major price surge coincided with a month-over-month user growth of 19.2%. However, in November—when BTC reached the long-awaited milestone of $100,000 during a sustained price increase—acquired users actually saw a month-over-month decline of 28.5%.
Performance of Ethereum and L2
Overall, Ethereum's acquisition of users exceeds that of its traditional L2, but Arbitrum also experienced impressive single-month growth.
Ethereum's growth in 2024 exceeded that of its two leading L2 chains, with an average of 1.56 million acquired users, compared to 1.2 million for Arbitrum and 348,800 for Optimism. Excluding December, Ethereum experienced month-over-month declines in only four months and reached a peak of 1.9 million new users in March—an increase of 33.4%.
Arbitrum and Optimism both started the year with considerable momentum, reaching peaks in user acquisition growth in April and May 2024, respectively, followed by a decline in user growth for the remainder of the year.
However, it is worth noting that the 3.3 million new users achieved by Arbitrum in May exceeded any single-month peak of Ethereum in 2024. In this context, Arbitrum's user acquisition growth consistently exceeded Optimism throughout the year, benefiting from the success of its Arbitrum One program and the integration and expansion of GameFi and SocialFi. Whether the chain can reclaim its position as the leading global EVM L2 chain remains to be seen.
Performance of New Public Chains in 2024
Among the public chains launched in 2024, Aleo achieved the highest average user acquisition growth, while Blast gradually faded after setting a single-month record.
Among newly launched public chains, Aleo saw the highest user acquisition growth in its launch month, averaging 175,200 new users, compared to 134,900 for Blast and 90,700 for Sei. This can be attributed to Blast's sharp decline in user acquisition starting in July and Sei's slow start—despite its mainnet launching months ago, it only reached a peak of 324,500 users in October.
It remains unclear whether these public chains can regain growth momentum in 2025—especially considering that Base also experienced a similar post-launch cooling period before its surge in 2024. Among the four new public chains tracked, Lava's performance has been overshadowed by competitors, and although Blast set a record for the highest monthly user acquisition among newly launched public chains in June, it still has a long way to catch up.
3. Super Users
As of December 2024, Base has the most DeFi-related super users, with 15.1 million wallets executing 100 or more transactions.
In addition to gaining the most new users, Base has also attracted the largest number of DeFi-related super users, with the number of users executing 100 or more transactions exceeding that of the second-ranked Ethereum by 38.4%. Following closely are Ethereum's 10.7 million new super users and Polygon's 7 million.
Note: 'Super users' are defined as users who have executed at least 100 transactions on a chain, regardless of the creation time of the relevant wallets or the time of the last transaction.
Given Base's explosive growth this year, its impressive number of super users may not be surprising. This success is likely attributed to Base's dominance in several popular areas, surpassing many traditional public chains in 2024, including but not limited to memecoin and NFT trading.
At the other end, Avalanche and Blast have similar numbers of super users this year, averaging about 1.3 million, while Optimism performed slightly better with 1.7 million users conducting at least 100 DeFi transactions.
Polygon's Outstanding Performance
Polygon has the highest number of new super users this year and continues to stand out in non-DeFi-related super user activities.
Polygon has attracted 1.5 million new super users in 2024 to date—almost double that of the second-ranked Base.
Polygon's super user activity also surpassed that of all other observed public chains this year, with an average monthly super user transaction volume of 867.7 million. In addition to Base's impressive 786.3 million super user transactions, Arbitrum has also performed strongly in 2024, reaching 365.3 million super user transactions.
Polygon's outstanding performance continues its long-standing leadership in super user activity since 2021. In 2021, Polygon's transaction volume reached 1.14 billion, setting the highest record for super user activity among all blockchains, which has been maintained to this day.
However, despite Polygon having the highest super user activity across all blockchains, the quantity of its DeFi-related super user wallets ranks only third. This indicates that Polygon has successfully attracted a large number of high-frequency trading users through GameFi and other use cases, rather than solely relying on DeFi applications.
Ethereum's number of super users in the DeFi space exceeds the combined total of Arbitrum and Optimism.
As of 2024, Ethereum's number of super users in the DeFi domain has reached 10.9 million, second only to Base. This number far exceeds the combined totals of Arbitrum (6.2 million) and Optimism (1.8 million).
While EVM L2 (Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible Layer 2 networks) generally offers faster speeds and lower transaction costs, many users may still find cross-chain bridging of assets too complex or risky, or prefer to use the Ethereum mainnet due to its deeper liquidity and more mature market position.
However, Ethereum's Layer 2 networks need to explore further methods to attract users rather than solely relying on performance advantages over the Ethereum mainnet to drive on-chain activity.
4. DEX Users
Uniswap continues to expand its market share across major blockchains, further solidifying its position as a leader in the decentralized exchange (DEX) space.
Among all observed chains, Uniswap remains the undisputed number one, with the exception of Avalanche and Blast. Notably, on the Base chain, Uniswap's user share surged from 36.8% to 91.3%. Given the exponential growth of users on the Base chain this year, this achievement is particularly remarkable.
Similarly, Uniswap's performance on other major chains has also improved. Compared to 2023, its DEX activity share on Ethereum increased by 27.72%, while on Polygon, it increased by 12.57%. Notably, Polygon's DEX activity distribution has historically been more fragmented, resulting in a more diverse trading behavior among its user base compared to other leading chains.
Even without considering Uniswap's protocol upgrades, this phenomenon may also reflect the 'winner takes all' trend in the DeFi space, where larger platforms capture a greater market share due to their deep liquidity and brand recognition.
On Avalanche, Trader Joe further solidified its leading position, while Uniswap's ranking also improved.
Uniswap has now become the second most popular DEX on Avalanche, whereas in 2023, it did not even make the top five. However, Trader Joe remains the most popular DEX on Avalanche, holding a market share of 61.1%, and since 2023, its market share has increased by about 6%.
As the first major DEX natively built on Avalanche, Trader Joe has been committed to maintaining and expanding its market leadership. The Auto-Pools feature launched in April this year allows liquidity providers (LPs) to more easily adjust positions and compound returns automatically. Additionally, the platform supports liquidity staking for various Avalanche assets and is actively expanding to new chains like Arbitrum and BNB Chain, validating the viability of its unique liquidity book (LB) model.
As a result, Trader Joe's efforts provide a successful case study for other platforms looking to establish a foothold in the competitive DEX market.
The DEX preferences of super users and new users are becoming increasingly aligned, but the trading activities of super users are still more distributed.
Unlike 2023, the top three DEXs used by super users and new users on each observed chain are now consistent. This indicates that new users have become more skilled at mimicking the behaviors of experienced traders, or leading DEXs have found more effective ways to optimize trading paths.
Nevertheless, the trading activities of super users are still distributed across more DEXs. Compared to new users, they are more familiar with a wider range of DeFi protocols and are also willing to explore opportunities beyond mainstream platforms like Uniswap for higher yields or unique trading conditions.
Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges for Web3 in 2025
On-chain data shows that the number of Web3 users continues to grow in 2024, while traditional blockchains and emerging competitors also face challenges in standing out in the market and providing attractive use cases for both new and old users. Moreover, the rise in prices of on-chain native tokens has not significantly driven diversified on-chain activity, and emerging DeFi protocols face considerable resistance when challenging established giants.
Here are some key trends to watch for in 2025:
Base Becomes a Benchmark for Ecological Expansion
In 2024, Base became a model for attracting and retaining new users with its explosive user growth, providing a reference for other new blockchains looking to stand out. Base's success in memecoin trading and on-chain AI applications indicates that innovative use cases around popular areas will continue to drive user growth in 2025. However, the challenge remains to convert these high-frequency trading activities into more lasting and diverse user engagement.
Ethereum's user growth brings new opportunities for L2 chains
Despite the performance advantages of Ethereum's Layer 2 networks, Ethereum remains at the core of the Web3 economy due to its large user base and liquidity. L2 chains like Optimism may further adjust their strategies to attract Ethereum's growing ordinary users, guiding them into their own on-chain ecosystems.
Differentiation or economies of scale are key to success
Uniswap's market dominance is increasing, indicating a trend of 'winner takes all' in the DeFi market. However, chains like Avalanche and Polygon have proven that targeted innovations can occupy significant positions in specific markets. For example, Trader Joe's Auto-Pools feature simplifies operations for liquidity providers, while Polygon's GameFi projects attract a large number of gamers. Looking ahead to 2025, protocols that can offer differentiated on-chain services beyond traditional DeFi functions will be more likely to attract market attention.
Shifting from Quantity to Quality of Users
With the continuous influx of new users, builders in the blockchain ecosystem need to find ways to incentivize users to engage in more diverse activities, such as governance voting and staking, rather than just trading. As the number of wallets rapidly grows, chains that prioritize user quality and focus on diversified participation will have an advantage in the long-term healthy development of the ecosystem.
5. Data-Driven Insights on User Quality
What are Flipside Scores?
As 2025 approaches, the Web3 industry faces a critical challenge: how to distinguish between short-term active phenomena and genuinely sustainable growth. While the surge in new users and transaction volumes in 2024 presents an optimistic outlook for the industry, the key question remains whether these users will stay long-term and contribute to the long-term development of the blockchain ecosystem. Flipside Scores were designed to address this issue.
Flipside Scores quantifies the quality of user on-chain activity by integrating 15 performance metrics (across five categories). Unlike simple metrics based solely on transaction volume, this approach can comprehensively reflect the breadth and depth of user activity, revealing which ecosystems excel and where there is still room for improvement.
Trends in User Quality Across Different Chains
Overall, in 2024, as the number of wallets and on-chain transaction volumes surged, the user quality across chains declined. This phenomenon reflects that the industry has attracted a large number of new users, who currently have low engagement but are expected to gradually explore the diverse use cases offered by Web3 in the future.
Here are some key findings:
Base: One of the typical success stories in user growth in 2024. Although the user quality score of this chain is low, it does not mean that Base is performing poorly overall. On the contrary, it indicates that its large new user base is currently mainly concentrated in fewer chain activities, and in the future, by guiding these users to participate in more diverse ecological activities, Base still has enormous potential for improvement.
ETH: There was a significant decline in user quality ahead of the launch of multiple SEC-approved ETH ETFs. This indicates that while the entry of institutional funds can lead to a rapid increase in wallet numbers, without sufficient incentives and convenient participation methods (e.g., protocol governance), the depth of user on-chain activity may be difficult to enhance.
Blast: Successfully attracted users to actively participate in multiple chain activities in its early launch, demonstrating its strong capability in incentivizing gamified activities. Although Blast's user growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2024, remaining users continue to be active across multiple domains, indicating that the chain is likely to surpass its initial hype and achieve long-term development.
