Key Highlights
- Cryptocurrency activity and adoption rates reach unprecedented levels
- Stablecoins demonstrate clear product-market fit (PMF)
- Infrastructure improvements drastically increase throughput and reduce costs
- DeFi maintains strong popularity with continuous growth
- Crypto emerges as potential solution for AI’s critical challenges
- Scalable infrastructure unlocks novel on-chain applications
Record-Breaking Cryptocurrency Activity
The cryptocurrency space has never seen this level of engagement. As of September 2024, 220 million addresses interacted with blockchain networks – a threefold increase since late 2023. (Note: active addresses remain a metric that can be manipulated more easily than others)
This surge primarily stems from:
– Solana: 100 million active addresses
– NEAR: 31 million
– Base (Coinbase’s L2): 22 million
– Tron: 14 million
– Bitcoin: 11 million
Among EVM chains after Base:
– BNB Chain: 10 million
– Ethereum: 6 million
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Developer Interest Shifts
Our developer activity dashboard reveals significant changes:
– Solana: Founder interest grew from 5.1% to 11.2%
– Base: Increased from 7.8% to 10.7%
– Bitcoin: Rose from 2.6% to 4.2%
Absolute leaderboard for developer interest:
1. Ethereum: 20.8%
2. Solana
3. Base
4. Polygon: 7.9%
5. Optimism: 6.7%
Mobile Wallet Milestone
June 2024 saw 29 million monthly active mobile crypto wallet users – a historic peak. While the U.S. leads with 12% share, adoption is growing fastest in:
– Nigeria (regulatory clarity driving consumer use cases)
– India (massive population with high mobile penetration)
– Argentina (residents flocking to stablecoins amid currency devaluation)
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The Activation Opportunity
Current estimates suggest:
– 30-60 million monthly active crypto users
– This represents just 5-10% of the 617 million global cryptocurrency holders
This gap presents tremendous potential to reactivate dormant holders through infrastructure improvements enabling compelling new applications.
Stablecoins Achieve Product-Market Fit
Stablecoins have emerged as cryptocurrency’s first true “killer app” by enabling fast, low-cost global payments. As Congressman Ritchie Torres noted: “Dollar stablecoins may represent history’s largest financial empowerment experiment.”
Transaction Volume Comparison (Q2 2024)
| Payment Method | Volume |
|---|---|
| Stablecoins | $8.5 trillion |
| Visa | $3.9 trillion |
Infrastructure upgrades reduced costs dramatically:
– Ethereum USDC transfers: $1 (vs. $12 in 2021)
– Base network transfers: <$0.01
– International wire average: $44
Usage Breakdown
- DeFi: 34% of daily active addresses
- Stablecoins: 32%
- Infrastructure: Remaining 34%
Stablecoin adoption continues growing regardless of market cycles, demonstrating utility beyond speculative trading.
Infrastructure Revolution
Capacity Improvements
Today’s chains process 50x more transactions per second than four years ago, thanks to:
– Ethereum L2 solutions
– High-throughput alternative chains
The March 2024 Dencun upgrade (EIP-4844) slashed L2 fees despite increasing network activity – proving blockchain scalability.
ZK-Proof Advancements
Zero-knowledge technology shows similar trends:
– Verification costs declining
– ETH-denominated value increasing
– Applications expanding for privacy and interoperability
While zkVMs still lag traditional computers in performance, they represent a promising frontier for verifiable computation.
DeFi’s Continued Dominance
Market Share Growth
- DEXs now account for 10% of spot crypto trading (vs. 0% in 2020)
- $169 billion locked in DeFi protocols
Key Subcategories
- Staking: ETH staking rose from 11% to 29% post-Merge
- Lending: Offering alternatives to traditional finance
This growth occurs as U.S. banking concentration worsens – the number of banks has declined 66% since 1990.
Crypto and AI Convergence
User Overlap
- Significant crossover between ChatGPT users and crypto enthusiasts
- 34% of crypto projects now incorporate AI (up from 27%)
Addressing AI’s Centralization Risks
Cryptocurrency offers solutions to AI’s pressing challenges:
– Gensyn: Democratizes AI compute access
– Story: Tracks intellectual property
– Near: Runs AI on user-owned protocols
– Starling Labs: Verifies digital media authenticity
New On-Chain Applications
Scalability improvements enable previously impossible use cases:
NFT Market Transformation
- Shift from high-value trading to mass NFT minting
- Platforms like Zora enabling social NFT experiences
Emerging Categories
- Social Networks: 10.3% of developer projects
- Example: Farcaster’s growing ecosystem
- Gaming: Pushing scalability limits
- Case: Pirate Nation’s resource-intensive Rollup
- Prediction Markets: Gaining traction despite U.S. restrictions
FAQ
Q: How many people currently own cryptocurrency?
A: Estimates suggest 617 million global holders, with 30-60 million being monthly active users.
Q: Which blockchain has the most developer activity?
A: Ethereum leads with 20.8% share, followed by Solana and Base.
Q: Are stablecoins only used for trading?
A: No – their transaction volume ($8.5T in Q2 2024) demonstrates utility for payments and transfers.
Q: How much cheaper are crypto transactions now?
A: Some networks offer 99%+ cost reductions – Base transactions can cost <$0.01 vs. $44 for international wires.
Q: What percentage of crypto activity is DeFi?
A: DeFi accounts for 34% of daily active addresses, slightly more than stablecoins’ 32% share.
Q: How is crypto addressing AI challenges?
A: Through decentralized compute, IP protection, and media verification solutions that counteract AI centralization.
Conclusion
The cryptocurrency ecosystem has made undeniable progress across multiple fronts:
– Policy: Bitcoin/ETH ETP approvals, bipartisan legislation
– Technology: Scalability solutions like L2s and ZK-proofs
– Adoption: From stablecoins to emerging consumer applications
As infrastructure continues improving along the technology cost-performance curve, we anticipate further breakthroughs that could transform entire industries – much like ChatGPT did for AI.