Ethereum and Polygon are some of the most popular blockchains in the crypto space. Their growth in 2023 have very well documented. There are many other notable events that took place which are not just news-worthy, but also significant for everyone in the crypto space. Flipside have put together a report that brings these figures and events to the fore. We'll take a loot at some of them, beginning with the two blockchains that attracted more new users in 2023.
1. Polygon almost matched Ethereum in acquired new Users
The report analyzed eight blockchains and looked at key figures and events in each in comparison to the other. One of the metrics that was used to do the analysis is acquired new users. It was explained in the report that acquired users are considered as new users that completed at least two transactions on the blockchain in question. For example, they must have completed two transactions in 2023 in a specific blockchain like Ethereum, Solana, etc.
As shown in the Flipside report, Ethereum and Polygon were the two best performing blockchains in 2023. It was a very close contest between the two blockchains although Ethereum had the upper hand slightly. As contained in the report, Ethereum acquired 15,408,536m new users. Closely following it is Polygon with 15,240,523m users. Polygon remained a popular Layer 2 scaling solution as it attracted more users than all others except Ethereum. The least performing blockchain according to the report is Base which acquired just 1,940,910 users.
The table below shows how the rest of the blockchains covered in the report performed:
Some of the blockchains performed amazingly well in some months like May 2023. Others had their peak at different months with major crypto events happening at various periods of time in 2023. The table below in the report shows a breakdown of each blockchains performance on a month by month basis.
2. Defi had more super users than other transactions
The report also looked at the various transactions that was registered across the blockchains evaluated and the type of transactions. It listed super users as those that made more than 100 transactions across their period of existence in the blockchain being considered.
The most transactions occurred in Defi. This goes a long way to show the dominance of defi and its impressive growth in 2023. There are many activities in defi like provision of liquidity, lending, yield farming etc. OF all these activities, the one where super user activity occurred most or where the most frequent transactions occurred is in swapping.
The table below which was also included in the report show how frequent DEX swapping occurred across the eight blockchains:
3. Uniswap was the top choice for Ethereum DEXs
The report also looked at the various blockchains and the exchanges - CEX and DEX - that users preferred. It was noted that on each chain evaluated, there was always a particular exchange that most users preferred than others. For example, users that performed transactions on Ethereum and related networks almost always choose Uniswap as their first choice DEX.
Take a look at the table below and see how other DEX came behind Uniswap which was the the popular top choice:
4. Key events in 2023
The report also included a table of key events that happened in crypto in 2023. These events were so significant that it affected the crypto community significantly in one way or the other. Interestingly, it linked each event to a timeline so readers would easily remember the date when these events happened. Consider the following 3:
- February 9, 2023 - Kraken shuts down services after SEC file charges
- June 5, 2023 - SEC files lawsuit against Binance and Coinbase over US securities voilations
- August 7, 2023 - Paypal launches its stablecoin PYUSD source
There were many other events that happened in 2023 which significantly impacted the entire crypto space. The report included a chart to map those events including the 3 mentioned above. Take a look below:
Finally
It is obvious that 2023 was a significant year in the crypto space with records created, events and other activities of real significance in the space. In 2024, crypto will continue to expand and grow. Defi improvements, more crypto adoption, approval of spot ETF, Bitcoin halving and many other events are being awaited. Stay in the loop and do not miss any action in the ever-dynamic crypto sector.
Most important, always do your research first before investing in any project.