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Flipside’s Onchain Users Report focused on EVM chains, tracking both record growth and emerging challenges in maintaining quality of engagement. Here are a few trends to watch in 2025.
Record user growth
The number of newly acquired users reached a record 19.4 million in October, with Base contributing 13.7 million – “nearly 8x second place Polygon,” the report said. This explosive growth was attributed to Coinbase’s massive user base and Base’s focus on “trending sectors such as memecoin trading and onchain AI through new initiatives such as Based Agents.”
A ‘recruited user’ is defined as a user who has completed at least two transactions in 2024.
Ethereum also saw consistent user growth, with an average of 1.56 million new users per month. Arbitrum peaked in May with 3.3 million acquired users, powered by GameFi and SocialFi.
However, Bitcoin usage remained relatively flat despite BTC reaching its historic milestone of $100,000. This reflects speculative activity rather than meaningful onboarding.
Superusers: Basic and Polygon dominate
Flipside terms “superuser” are those who have performed 100 or more transactions in a chain at any time.
Base led the way here with 15.1 million wallets performing more than 100 transactions, 38% more than Ethereum’s 10.7 million super users. Meanwhile, Polygon registered 1.5 million new superusers in 2024, underscoring its power beyond DeFi. According to the report, “Polygon’s superuser activity also exceeded that of every other chain observed, with 867.7 million monthly superuser transactions.”
Ethereum maintained its position as a DeFi hub with 10.9 million DeFi-related superusers, more than Arbitrum and Optimism combined.
Blast’s rise and sharp decline
Among newly launched chains, Blast made headlines with a record one-month spike of 134.9k acquired users in June. This was driven by the ability to drive “a wide range of gamified onchain activities.”
However, the chain experienced a significant decline in the number of users in the fourth quarter. Despite the apparent exodus of points farmers from the chain, the report highlights Blast’s upside potential: “The remaining users are still active on multiple fronts, indicating that the chain has the potential to survive and even exceed the initial hype. ”
Uniswap’s DeFi dominance
Uniswap strengthened its dominance by capturing 91.3% of DEX activity on Base and increasing its share on Ethereum by 27.72% compared to 2023. This points to a broader trend, “a winner-takes-most” DeFi market [that] disproportionately favors larger incumbent players with deeper liquidity and brand awareness,” the authors said.
Meanwhile, LFJ (née Trader Joe) maintained its lead over Avalanche, growing its market share by just over 6% from 2023, thanks to innovations like Auto-Pools.
The challenge
While attracting record numbers of users in 2024, Flipside emphasizes the need for quality engagement. As the report notes, “Behind the headlines of record user growth lies a deeper challenge: building ecosystems that create meaningful, lasting engagement, not just fleeting speculation.”
For example, despite Base attracting huge numbers of users, the report highlights the “small number of onchain actions the new user base is currently engaging in,” such as simply betting on one or two memecoins. It’s not clear whether apps can take advantage of the ability to redirect users to deeper activities like DeFi.