As blockchain technology changes quickly, Ethereum and Polygon continue to show that they are the best Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains. They are also gaining new users and seeing a lot of trading activity, as shown in Flipside’s recent report, “New EVM Users: Q1 Snapshot.”
As of March 27, 13.4 million new users had joined Ethereum, and 12.3 million had joined Polygon. Together, these two groups made up about 70% of all new EVM users in the year’s first quarter. On the other hand, Arbitrum has gained 4.7 million new users since the beginning of 2024.
Ethereum’s Mainnet Dominance and DeFi’s Attraction
While Ethereum’s mainnet remains the best in terms of performance, Layer-2 protocols are seeing a rise in data processing. Newcomers are still very interested in decentralized finance (DeFi), with Ethereum selling a staggering $12 billion worth of tokens in the first quarter.
The report shows a significant shift in DeFi activity: steady growth instead of the previous year’s wild swings; this shows that blockchain newcomers are becoming more interested in and involved in DeFi.
Arbitrum is now in second place after a significant $9.5 billion rise since the beginning of 2024. This is because more busy new users are in Arbitrum’s DeFi environment. Thanks to increased non-fungible token (NFT) trading, Polygon has gained many new users.
Base, a new rival, has gained many new users—as of March 16, it had 243,000 new users, a record. Coinbase’s work to make cryptocurrency easy for new users is important in this rise.
Base has grown a lot since it first came out, which is even more impressive considering how popular Ethereum is still.
Bridge apps and token swaps are the main ways new users join EVM chains. Regarding Ethereum and Base, Uniswap and Orbiter Finance are the best.
It also details how NFTs are traded across EVM chains, which shows a complex picture. While new users dealing with NFTs steadily increased on Ethereum and Base, trading on Polygon went down from its early highs. This shows the volatile interest in NFTs and suggests that market narratives may change.
The study also discusses how important some apps are for getting people to use different chains. Many of the new people who joined Optimism were interested in Worldcoin (WLD), which shows that people are still interested in some projects.
The blockchain ecosystem is always changing, and Flipside’s in-depth research shows how the dynamics and trends that shape the landscape of EVM chains are also changing. This knowledge is useful for people who work in the field and those who are interested in it.
