Ethereum and its Layer 2 scaling solution Polygon attracted by far the most new users in the first quarter of 2024.
Flipside’s latest report shows that these two blockchain platforms have amassed the most cumulative new users among observed EVM chains since the beginning of the year.
Polygon had 12.3 million new users, and Ethereum had 13.4 million – about 70% of this year’s new users across all observed chains as of March 27. Next was Arbitrum, which registered the most new users (4.7 million) in the same period.
Considering the extensive history of Ethereum and Polygon compared to most EVM chains, it is not surprising that they have significant dominance. In relative terms, new user volume growth for Ethereum and Polygon between January and March 2024 was only 298.3% and 359.7% respectively, placing them in the middle of all observed chains, Flipside said in its report.
DeFi – Key driver for new user growth
DeFi has emerged as the key catalyst for new user expansion across chains this year. Among all monitored EVM chains, DeFi trading volume has skyrocketed since the beginning of the year.
Ethereum leads with a cumulative trading volume of $1 billion, with its busiest trading day recorded on March 5, when figures exceeded $428 million. In fact, March turned out to be the most active trading period across all observed chains.
While DeFi trading activity on Optimism and Arbitrum saw a slight decline over the past week, DeFi activity overall has been on a consistent upward trajectory. This is in stark contrast to the erratic market swings throughout much of 2023.
Although Arbitrum significantly lagged behind Ethereum and Polygon in acquiring new users, it managed to secure a strong second position in terms of new user trading volume, having amassed $9.5 billion since the start of 2024. This performance gap was attributed to Polygon’s high NFT trading volume. this year, which reached a daily high of $6.3 million in early January, compared to Arbitrum’s lower daily high of $229,000 in mid-February.
New user growth is showing mixed results in NFT
New user engagement in NFT activity shows “mixed” patterns, with the two largest chains experiencing contrasting trends. Compared to DeFi, new user growth based on NFT activity has shown greater volatility depending on the network.
While NFT trading activity for new Polygon users has been steadily declining since the beginning of the year, activity on Ethereum and Base has, in contrast, been steadily increasing. In all other chains, NFT trading fluctuates from week to week without any clear pattern.
Ethereum and Polygon have maintained the highest USD volume of NFT transactions since the beginning of the year. Ethereum’s daily volume has remained consistently above $1 million since January 1, while Polygon’s peaked at over $6 million in early January before falling to less than $500,000.
