In 2023, the Ethereum blockchain witnessed fascinating changes in how users and entities interacted. According to a recent report by Nansen, there has been a notable increase, with over 300,000 Ethereum addresses active daily.
Among these active addresses, DeFi entities still maintain their dominant position. As of October 12, 2023, DeFi users alone outnumber NFT users and Layer-2 scalability expansion users by more than twice, solidifying the DeFi sector’s central role in on-chain activities.
Regarding new user adoption, Layer-2 activities have seen a significant surge. Nansen’s report suggests that this signifies a shift towards scalability solutions, with new users increasingly considering Layer-2 platforms as their first choice.
This transition aligns with broader trends where the number of users on Layer-2 and scalability expansion has seen significant growth. This has been driven by the more efficient implementation of Layer-2 infrastructure and potential for user engagement.
A closer examination of entity interactions confirms these trends. While nearly all categories have seen transaction volume growth since the beginning of the year, the “Layer-2, Bridges, and Infrastructure” category has led with a remarkable increase of 149.28%.
NFT users had surpassed DeFi users in 2022 but started experiencing a sharp decline from the beginning of 2023. In fact, the number of daily users in this space has decreased by over 50% since the start of the year.
This contrasts with the number of Layer-1/scalability expansion users, which saw a significant increase in March, coinciding with the launch of zkSync’s public mainnet and the Arbitrum airdrop, before reverting to previous levels in May.
Subsequently, the number of users in the “scalability expansion” category continued to increase and has remained relatively stable since June. It’s important to note that the DeFi user group still holds the majority within these categories.
In contrast, the “NFT, Gaming, and GambleFi” sector has witnessed a 61.4% decrease in activity, reflecting the declining number of new users focusing on NFTs.
Furthermore, the number of users interacting with NFT entities has continued to decline throughout 2023, highlighting the waning appeal of the NFT space to new wallet holders. At the beginning of the year, NFTs accounted for over 24% of new user initial actions, but by October 12, this figure had dropped to just above 6%.