Thedecentralizedfinanceecosystemcontinuestogrowdespiterecentchallengesasoverallcryptousagehitsrecordlevels,venturecapitalfirmAndreessenHorowitz(a16z)saidinanewreport.
Inits“StateofCrypto”reportpublishedonOct.16,a16znotedthatthecryptoindustryhaswitnessedamajorspikeinactivityoverthepastyear.Thegrowthtrajectoryfortheindustryis“reminiscentofearlyinternetadoption.”
Forinstance,September2024saw220millionaddressesinteractwithprotocolsacrosstheblockchainecosystem—morethantriplethefiguresrecordedinlate2023.About100millionoftheseactiveaddresseswereonSolana(SOL),ablockchainnetworkthathasregisteredamassivespikeinactivity.
AswellasSolana,othernetworkstoseeasignificantincreaseinactiveaddressesareNearProtocol(NEAR),Coinbase’slayer-2networkBase,Tron(TRX)andBitcoin(BTC).
Stablecoinandcryptoregulation
Thereportalsohighlightedseveralgrowthmetricsandkeyissuessurroundingthecryptoindustrysincea16z’sfirstStateofCryptoreportin2023.
OnemajortakeawayisthatcryptohasbecomeasignificantpoliticalissueamidtheU.S.election.However,theUnitedStateslagsbehindtheEuropeanUnionandtheUnitedKingdominpublicengagementregardingcryptoregulation.
Themarkethasalsoseenconsiderabledevelopmentsaroundstablecoins,includingtheirregulationandusage.Notably,stablecoinshavegrowntobecomeoneofthetop20holdersofU.S.Treasurysecurities,withaCoinbasereportshowingmarkedgrowthinQ3,2024.MajorplayersincludeTether’sUSDTandCircle’sUSDC.
Additionally,infrastructureimprovementsandtheincreasingintersectionofblockchaintechnologyandartificialintelligencehavefurtherbolsteredtheindustry’sgrowth.
DeFicontinuestogrow
DeFihasbeenoneoftheareasofcryptothatsawthemostusageacrossdailyactiveaddressesinthepastyear.
“SinceDeFi’sarrivalinthesummerof2020,decentralizedexchanges,orDEXs,havegrowntoaccountfor10%ofspotcryptotradingactivity—allofwhichoccurredoncentralizedexchangesjustfouryearsago,”thereportsreads.
DeFiprotocolsacrosstheecosystemnowaccountforover$169billionintotalvaluelocked.TopplatformsincludeLido,Aave,Uniswap,EigenLayer,WBTC,andether.fi.Thesedecentralizedplatformscontinuetoattractusersastraditionalfinancialinstitutions,suchasU.S.banks,faceongoingchallenges.
Accordingtoa16z,topblockchainsintermsofbuilderactivityorinterestincludeEthereum(ETH),SolanaandBitcoin.
WhileEthereumstillattractsthemostdeveloperactivity,with20.8%ofbuilders,Solanahasseensignificantgrowthinthissector,increasingfrom5.1%in2023to11.2%in2024.
Basealsorecordedanotablejumpindeveloperactivity,risingfrom7.8%to10.7%year-over-year.Bitcoin,whichhasregisteredasurgeinDeFi-relatedactivity,sawanincreaseinbuilderinterestfrom2.6%to4.2%.
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