Decentralized Applications: Crisis as an Opportunity for Growth

Regulators continue to exert pressure on blockchain technologies. Despite this, decentralized applications are demonstrating adaptability and positive trends: the number of daily active unique wallets (dUAW) has seen a 7.97% increase compared to the previous quarter. The major growth spurt was thanks to the rise in the number of DeFi users, who now constitute 32% of the market. This could be related to the activities of airdrop hunters and the new Ethereum scaling protocols (L2 solutions). While the gaming category has maintained its position at the helm (36%), other sectors such as NFT and social DApps have held steady at their respective levels of 7% and 13%.

In the DeFi space, users have scaled down the total value locked (TVL) by 7.1%, bringing it to a figure of $77.6 billion. Ethereum continues to maintain its lead among blockchains in terms of TVL, with its figures remaining virtually unchanged. Other platforms, particularly BNB Chain, have experienced a significant drop, amplified by issues with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). An exception to this trend was Tron, which managed to demonstrate a 7% increase over the last quarter.

At a casual glance, a 38% decrease in NFT trading volumes (to $2.9 billion) might suggest a major decrease in activity. However, DappRadar advises against drawing a direct correlation between these two indicators, as the total number of transactions only slightly fell by 9.2%, which is quite impressive given the current market conditions. Particularly noteworthy are relatively new projects like Immutable X Marketplace, which saw its trading volume increase by 37%, while leading marketplaces witnessed a corresponding decline.

The real revelation of the past quarter was the surge of Bitcoin Ordinals. The frenzy around these NFTs led to a staggering 2834% increase in trading volumes (to $210.7 million). The number of unique traders swelled to 150,969 individuals. Such striking numbers suggest that this new technology has gained considerable traction among users.

Decentralized applications continue to attract and retain users, skillfully adapting and responding to challenging events within the industry. DappRadar believes that developers should pay close attention to security to consolidate their success.