Dapp usage is up 21% against September and 626% year-over-year
At $4.2B in trading volume, NFTs keep their pace after record quarter
DeFi hits an all-time high, with nearly $220B in total value locked
Gaming accounts for 55% of UAW, signaling mass adoption in 2022
India is one to watch as Bollywood enters the NFT space
DappRadar, the leading decentralized applications store, issued its monthly Dapp Industry Report yesterday, confirming a bullish October with new records and milestones. The blockchain space continued its expansion against a backdrop of leading cryptocurrencies reaching all-time highs, notably registering 2 million unique active wallets (UAW) interacting with dapps on a daily basis for the first time. This 21% month-on-month increase in UAW boosts the space’s annual growth up to an impressive 626%, as compared with 487% in September and sets the scene for yet another record-breaking quarter.
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“October’s figures point in two directions: consolidation and diversification. The industry seems to be establishing itself firmly, cementing its positions — no longer are we seeing the steep, hype-driven spikes of the DeFi summer, nor of the onset of the NFT craze. Growth is stabilizing, but maintaining a fast pace. At the same time, the space remains fluid and dynamic, consistently branching out into new markets, product configurations, and uses. Judging by this promising start to the quarter, I would expect to see new all-time highs across dapp segments by end of year and mass adoption within 2022,” said Modesta Masoit, Head of Finance and Research at DappRadar.
October saw a renewed interest in DeFi following a Q3 focused on NFTs and games. The category marked the greatest improvement in terms of usage at 32% month-on-month and a 803,500 daily UAW average as blockchains like Solana, Terra, Avalanche and Fantom established themselves as solid DeFi ecosystems.
Having accumulated over $10.6B in the past quarter, the NFT segment kept its pace with more than $4.2B traded in October alone — a billion short of August’s record, but an improvement over September’s $4B. As NFTs continue to capture public attention, the market cap for the 100 most traded collections on Ethereum and Flow’s NBA Top Shot grew substantially, however, gaining 18% against September to reach capitalization just shy of $17B.
Blockchain gaming — now firmly established as the industry’s darling — once again accounted for the greatest portion of dapp activity. Nearly 1.2M UAW, or 55% of the total registered daily usage, connected to game dapps in October, improving on last quarter’s 49%. Hive-based card game Splinterlands and play-to-earn’s flagship game Axie Infinity were among the main contributors, witnessing a 44% and 27% UAW increase against September, respectively.
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As far as the dominating games and gamification narrative is concerned, it was arguably Facebook’s announcement that it is rebranding to Meta to reflect its shift in focus to the metaverse that stole the show in October. Despite concerns from the blockchain space that a centrally controlled virtual space may place too much power in the hands of the social media giant, the news sent metaverse-related tokens skyrocketing, with Decentraland’s MANA up 303% since the announcement to reach a $4.11 all-time high, and Sandbox’s SAND up 125% to $2.35 since its September all-time high.
Beside the news of Coinbase branching out into NFTs, which will indisputably contribute to the growth of the segment, another announcement that promises to propel this segment on a scale not seen before is Bollywood and cricket stars entering the NFT market. This will likely not only strengthen India-based Polygon’s NFT offering, but also expose the NFT market beyond a very US-concentrated base. The effect of celebrity endorsement in India — the fifth wealthiest country with a population of 1.38 billion is certainly one to monitor in the months to come.
The October 2021 Dapp Industry Report is the latest edition of DappRadar’s regular monthly industry report — the company’s flagship report series covering the performance of the blockchain industry. Additional report series include the monthly Blockchain Gaming Report, Dapp User Behavior and Whale Analysis reports, as well as the bi-monthly New Dapps Report.
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