Types of Transactions

Let's start by comparing the types of transactions the CRV holders are doing with their CRV tokens. From the graphs, we can see that the exchanges, both cex and dex, are far more popular than other types. This shows that CRV holders mostly trade the tokens instead of participating in other DeFi protocols using the tokens, such as Yearn vaults. However, this isn't a big surprise given its only purpose is only as a governance token. The lack of participation in DeFi protocols shows that yields on other DeFi protocols may not be as lucrative as locking the tokens on Curve itself. Other than that, we can see that despite dex transactions being higher than cex, the volume through cex is actually higher than dex transactions, showing that cex is still the preferred place to trade the tokens.

Dexes

Based on the graphs, Sushiswap is surprisingly the more dominant dex for trading CRV and participating in CRV liquidity pools than the market leader, Uniswap. Among the aggregators, 1inch is the preferred protocol followed by paraswap. Interestingly, MetaMask transactions are actually quite low in spite of being the by far the most well known wallet for Ethereum.

DeFi Protocols

There's no question here, AAVE is the most preferred DeFi protocol (excluding dexes) for CRV holders. CREAM, with its slightly higher APY, do not seem to appeal to CRV holders as much as AAVE, most probably due to it being hacked multiple times in the past.

Conclusion

1. Trading CRV is the main activity of CRV users, looking at the high transactions counts on both cex and dex, with cex in the lead by volume.
2. Among the dexes, Sushiswap is the more preferred choice followed by Uniswap.
3. Among the aggregators, 1inch is used most often.
4. AAVE is THE lending protocol for CRV users, despite CREAM finance offering a higher APY.