The 2024 Onchain Crypto User Report

Uncover Data-Driven Insights & Forward-Looking Predictions

Despite persistently bearish market conditions through most of 2023, the crypto ecosystem has witnessed significant regulatory, institutional, and financial developments over the past many months.

The Flipside State of Crypto Users Report is a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of the onchain activity of crypto users across eight major protocols over the past 12 months, and a prediction for what lies ahead.

We’ve summarized key findings below, but we encourage you to download the full report for free:

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The first part of the report identifies key moments and developing trends in 2023 that created the markets we're in today:

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User Activity

In 2023, acquired user volume peaked in May, with over 8.8MM accounts transacting on one or more chains covered in this report.
Solana’s two busiest months (May and December) contrasted with its comparatively under-par user growth for most of the year.
Across all observed chains, super users (wallets with 100+ transactions) have been most active in DeFi-related transactions compared to NFT-related activities.
Crypto super users are prioritizing investing in NFT collections on L2s, and divesting from their NFT collections on L1s — perhaps in anticipation of an NFT resurgence concentrated on low-cost L2s.

Dapp Activity

Most DeFi and NFT trades remained heavily concentrated in a handful of leading platforms. Every observed chain was dominated by a single DEX and NFT platform (in most cases Uniswap and Opensea).
Dapp preferences varied between super users and the rest of the pack in 2023, with slightly different secondary and tertiary DEX preferences across several EVM-compatible chains.
Additionally, a larger proportion of super users chose to sell NFTs instead of buying last year, relative to the broader crypto user base.

EVM Activity

The vast majority of EVM users kept their activity limited to one chain in 2023, with 86.9% of observed addresses interacting with a single network.
Among the addresses active across chains, many did so through multiple L2s. In fact, 6.7MM wallets interacted with both Polygon and another EVM-compatible L2, whereas 5.1MM wallets were active between Ethereum and at least one other EVM chain.
Additionally, a significant majority of cross-chain users participated in DeFi-related activities such as token swaps and yield farming, relative to NFT trading.

2024 Predictions

DeFi Will Be the Main Driver of the Next Bull Run

DeFi surpassed NFTs in driving crypto growth over the past 12 months, with both regular and super users favoring DeFi activity like token swaps. As the next bull run approaches, DeFi-related activities such as DEX trading and yield farming will continue to dominate overall onchain activity. At the same time, novel DeFi like Eigenlayer will rise in prominence and adoption among web3 native audiences.

And while 2023 was a mixed year for overall crypto sentiment, several prominent financial institutions publicly announced their new blockchain initiatives, boosting industry credibility and visibility. Institutional adoption has and will continue to influence public perceptions of crypto, which will encourage more new users to explore DeFi.

Low-Cost Layer 2s Will Accelerate EVM Adoption

In 2023, the majority of EVM users only interacted with a single chain. However, the subset of users that interacted with multiple chains was particularly active on layer 2s, given their low fees and faster transactions relative to Ethereum.

Additionally, past bull runs have historically led to skyrocketing transaction costs on Ethereum’s L1, as new users arrive and existing users spring back into action. The continued need for cost-effective alternatives to Ethereum, plus the growing number of EVM-compatible L2s, will pressure more L2 projects to focus on lowering end user costs. This race to provide cheaper, more frictionless experiences than competing chains will ultimately lower the barriers to EVM access and usability, thereby accelerating user growth.

More predictions and on-chain analysis are included in the full report:

Download the Onchain Crypto User Report

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This report was created in collaboration with Flipside community analysts — 100% of revenue from paid data plans is given back to the community to keep the industry informed by creating high-quality insights.

To see more from community analysts, visit https://flipsidecrypto.xyz/discover.