Ethererum and Polygon are leading in attracting new users and increasing trading volumes compared to newer Ethereum Virtual Machine chains, according to a report by Flipside. Ethereum showed 13.4 million new users, and Polygon had 12.3 million by March 27, making up around 70% of all new EVM users in 2024. In contrast, Arbitrum added 4.7 million users since the beginning of the year.
The dominance of Ethereum's mainnet continues, but Layer-2 protocols are handling more data. Decentralized finance remains a primary draw for newcomers, with Ethereum leading in trading volume at $12 billion during Q1. The report indicates an upward trend in DeFi activity, showing a growing interest and participation among blockchain newcomers.
Arbitrum followed Ethereum with a $9.5 billion gain compared to the beginning of 2024, attributed to increased new user activity in the platform's DeFi sector. Meanwhile, Polygon's high new user numbers are linked to a surge in non-fungible token activity. Base has seen significant growth, nearly multiplying its user base since January due to efforts by Coinbase to simplify cryptocurrency for beginners.
The analysis found that new users were interacting with a variety of decentralized applications on Ethereum but distributed unevenly. Base had a more evenly distributed app adoption compared to Ethereum, as the difference in new user volume between the two apps of Base was only 16.9%, unlike Ethereum's ~300%.
Token swaps and bridging apps were common entry points for new users, with Uniswap and Orbiter Finance being popular on Ethereum and Base, respectively. NFT trading activity across EVM chains varied, with new user NFT trading increasing on Ethereum and Base while decreasing on Polygon.
Specific applications influence user activity on different chains. An example from the report is new Optimism users being drawn to Worldcoin, indicating sustained community interest in certain projects. This trend in Optimism's ecosystem may differ from other EVM chains in terms of DeFi and NFT trading volume.
