The crypto industry had an incredible year in 2024, with rising coin prices driving remarkable growth. However, when it comes to on-chain users across various networks, the story isn’t quite as positive. According to a recent report from blockchain growth platform Flipside, many chains are struggling to maintain or increase their on-chain activity.
While some networks like Base, the layer-2 solution launched by Coinbase, saw exponential growth in user count for 2024, others like Bitcoin and some Ethereum-based layer-2 chains failed to attract new users or keep up with the competition. Despite Bitcoin’s historic price surges and the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, its user base barely grew.
Interestingly, the report found that Base had one of the biggest leaps in user acquisition this year, increasing its monthly user count by a staggering 56 times compared to January. By October 2024, they had a record 19.4 million new users, with 13.7 million of those coming from Base alone – nearly eight times higher than the second-highest contributor, Polygon.
Furthermore, Base managed to attract 15.1 million super users who executed over 100 decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions each month – 38.4% more than the next chain, Ethereum, which saw 10.7 million super users. It seems that Base’s ability to provide both quantity and quality on-chain activity has been key to its success in attracting these high-value contributors.
However, it wasn’t just Base that saw impressive growth; Ethereum also performed well, particularly when it came to DeFi-related activities. Despite facing stiff competition from its own layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism, Ethereum managed to outperform them both significantly, with 10.9 million super users compared to Arbitrum’s 6.2 million and Optimism’s 1.8 million.
This growth can be attributed partly due to increasing institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies but also due to notable developments such as Grayscale listing several new cryptocurrencies as “assets under consideration.” While these findings highlight some positive trends within the industry, they also serve as a reminder that attracting sustained user engagement remains a crucial challenge for many chains moving forward.
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