Whale report confirms big spenders still loyal to Ethereum dapps
October’s DeFi whale analysis report confirms that while so-called Ethereum killers may be making lots of noise, they aren’t living up to their name yet in regards to attracting value. Despite the massive interest seen in NFTs and games, the Ethereum DeFi space still attracted over 590,000 daily unique active wallets in Q3, reaching $178 billion in total value locked. Controlling over 70% of the total value locked in DeFi today.
“There is so much noise about potential Ethereum killers, especially in the DeFi space. But the data shows that big spenders still favor Ethereum DeFi dapps. After all, when a crypto whale moves hundreds of thousands of dollars, paying up to $100 in gas and fees is no big deal. The same is not true of investors at the other end of the scale. This is where platforms like BSC, Solana, and Polygon have come in and hoovered up those, newer, lower-value investors with the lure of low fees. Growing DeFi’s footprint in regards to active wallets but not so much regarding the value,’ says Skirmantas.
The report finds that Ethereum decentralized exchanges are widely used by whales. With an average transaction on Curve in September measured at $500,000, and Uniswap’s average transaction size around $52,900. Meanwhile, an average transaction on the leading Binance Smart Chain DeFi platform PancakeSwap did not surpass $900. Further demonstrating how DeFi dapps on other chains are attracting users, but not the same levels of value as Ethereum.
This is in part due to the fact crypto whales’ first interactions with the blockchain and DeFi dapps will almost certainly have been through Ethereum. In that sense, it’s very much the gateway drug to a much bigger world of opportunities. Today’s so-called Ethereum killers are replicating what Ethereum looks to achieve with 2.0, but are also expanding DeFi into a much broader and more accessible space, with opportunities for investors big, small, old and new,” he concludes.
High gas fees, whilst annoying to the community, also reiterate how popular dapps on Ethereum are, further demonstrated by the fact $140 billion of the $200 billion total value locked in DeFi to date is accounted for by Ethereum dapps. Arguably, those high-value investors are what secure the network and keep operations afloat for Ethereum. It’s also very likely that the trend of first-timers gravitating towards Ethereum dapps will continue for the foreseeable future.
However, as time moves forward and more bodies enter the space it’s yet to be seen if that new blood gravitates towards Ethereum dapps or chooses an alternative chain. Arguably, where the investors come from will play its part, and right now we’re seeing the East waking from its slumber. Will they gravitate towards the arguably more Asia-centric blockchain in BSC or head for old reliable? Time will tell.
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