The On-Chain Report - Trends on Blockchain Usage and Investments

Overview

In a landscape marked by relentless innovation, the blockchain ecosystem has continued to evolve rapidly over the last quarter. This report, jointly presented by QuickNode, a leading Web3 infrastructure and developer platform, and Artemis, an institutional data platform for digital assets, provides an insightful perspective on the sweeping commercial advancements observed across different chains and industry sectors. This report provides a comprehensive overview of current blockchain activity by examining the following:

1. Usage Today: Consumer trends that highlight the areas with the highest and fastest-growing usage today
2. Medium Term: Emerging trends as seen by developer activity and new solutions being shipped
3. Long-term: The investment landscape shows where venture capitalists (VCs) are placing long-term bets

By centering the narrative around blockchain developers and end users, we gain valuable insights into the roadmap for building a sustainable and rapidly expanding Web3 ecosystem. These insights, combined with the context of product launches and investments, give us a comprehensive story of where we're heading.

Consumer Trends — Where are users today?

As we entered Q3 of 2023, the blockchain landscape continued to exhibit a mix of growth and challenges. The daily active addresses — a measure of usage — tell a story of ups and downs, reflecting the evolving nature of this technology. Amidst this, certain areas have stood out: Stablecoins, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and Social. These categories, with their distinct appeal and robust product-market fit, have become the epicenters of user activity on a global scale.

Despite the diversification and expansion in use cases, financial applications and value transfer remain the dominant sectors, boasting the highest levels of user adoption. Over the last quarter, the narrative has continued evolving as Stablecoins have become the most popular category as measured by daily active addresses and the only category that has shown growth in Q3 2023.