Solana Leads Daily Active Address Rankings with 3M Users

Blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock recently released a detailed report revealing the daily active addresses across major blockchain networks, with Solana taking the lead.

This chart shows the number of daily active addresses across major tokens👇

Which one are you bullish on? pic.twitter.com/QvxiFljo8Z

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) September 26, 2024

According to the data, Solana (SOL) topped the list with 3.04 million active addresses, followed closely by Toncoin (TON) at 2.89 million and Tron (TRX) with 2.5 million. Meanwhile, tokens like Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded lower numbers.

However, the validity of these metrics has been questioned by Blockworks Research, which argued that they may not provide a reliable measure of genuine user engagement.

IntoTheBlock Report Faces Criticism

An X user referenced Blockworks Research’s analysis in response to IntoTheBlock’s tweet, noting that over 80% of these addresses engage in trades valued below $10, casting doubt on the significance of active addresses as an indicator.

https://t.co/wb3xTDciik pic.twitter.com/jhTkgKBhHH

— brick in the wall (@josipsky) September 26, 2024

The analysis also pointed out that only 15% of daily trading volumes occur through orderbooks, while most trading happens via automated market makers (AMMs), a trend evident even with core trading pairs like SOL-USD.

Despite the skepticism, Blockworks acknowledged that some niche areas within Solana’s ecosystem are thriving. Phoenix, Solana’s largest on-chain orderbook, performs exceptionally well in stablecoin-to-stablecoin trades. This indicates that even though low-value trades may dominate, Solana still serves certain use cases effectively.

Blockworks also noted that Solana’s DEX activity surged in Q2 2024, with memecoins accounting for up to 75% of weekly volumes in June. Although this spike was brief and volumes have normalized, Raydium’s market share rose to 60%, indicating memecoins had a temporary but notable effect on Solana’s on-chain activity.

Base L2 Network Sees Rapid Growth 

In response to the critique, IntoTheBlock highlighted the importance of using multiple metrics for a complete picture of network activity. The analytics firm argued that even small-value transactions can indicate genuine engagement, pointing to the recent boom on Coinbase’s Base network as an example.

“Claiming a Basename on the Base network involves minimal transaction volume but currently drives a lot of awareness & engagement for Base,” IntoTheBlock stated.

A recent CoinTab report supports this view, showing that Base has over 2 million daily active addresses, surpassing other Layer 2 (L2) networks. 

The report emphasized that this growth is driven by factors such as airdrops, the use of Coinbase’s cbBTC (a wrapped Bitcoin on Base), and the growing adoption of Basenames, which allow users to establish unique blockchain identities.