Polygon DeFi platforms showing increasing transaction values and more active wallets
Polygon DeFi vs Ethereum DeFi is going to be the main event in the industry for months to come. Ethereum is undoubtedly the smart contract leader out there. Yet, Polygon, a newcomer to the field, is exhibiting impressive activity over the past month. Based on DappRadar data, analyzing the performance of Aave and Aave V2, and SushiSwap on both Ethereum and Polygon reveals some interesting trends.
Traditionally, Ethereum is considered the founding father of all dapps and smart contract capabilities. Unfortunately, the growing demand has pushed the blockchain to its limits, and gas fees have been growing exponentially over the past several months. Sidechain solutions and alternatives are finding an audience now, and gain traction with users.
Polygon DeFi Vs Ethereum – transaction numbers and volumes
Let’s talk numbers. In May, Aave on Ethereum secured a daily average of $2,48 billion in transaction volume. Aave V2 scored a daily average of $2,28 billion. In comparison, Aave on Polygon has processed transactions worth $6,75 billion – a significantly bigger achievement. This might be due to the fact that Polygon is a sidechain solution, which offers lower gas fees, thus attracting a higher number of small value transactions.
If we look at the number of transactions both chains have processed, we see that the trend is confirmed. The two versions of Aave on Ethereum combined processed, on average, 1560 transactions daily, while Aave on Polygon, output an average of 9,224 daily. This explains the significant gap in numbers between the two chains.
However, if we look at SushiSwap, the volumes change drastically. In May, SushiSwap on Ethereum processed on average $27,811,685,057 daily, which is significantly higher than the numbers output by its Polygon counterpart Sushi, with an average of just $581,456,733 daily. Continuity is one of the factors affecting this drastic difference in numbers.
SushiSwap is one of the largest Ethereum-based DeFi solutions, and its services have been available for close to a year. In comparison, Sushi on Polygon has only been available for a few months. Not only that, traders transacting high volumes of tokens, generally prefer to use the Ethereum network.
User base
Another important metric DappRadar uses to track performance is the unique active wallet (UAW) addresses count. Polygon breaths down Ethereum’s neck and Aave on Polygon actually displays better numbers than its Ethereum counterpart.
For the Ethereum network, in May, the average daily unique wallet addresses on Aave were just 126. Aave V2 performed a bit better with an average of 755 unique wallets daily. In comparison, Aave on Polygon attracted on average 2,928 UAW. The difference in numbers here is obvious. However, as mentioned above, Polygon will attract more small-time traders, while Ethereum is still the industry leader for larger transactions, performed by a smaller number of people.
If we look at SushiSwap on Ethereum, the number of Unique Active Wallets (UAW) is significantly higher – 4,207. On the other hand, Sushi on Polygon is trying to catch up with just 2,773 UAW on average daily. One positive trend for Sushi on Polygon that emerges over the month of May is that the number of UAW increases exponentially every day. The exchange only attracted 26 new users on May 1. However, that number quickly rose to more than 1,000 the next week, and about 4,000 on May 20.
Preliminary data for June
While we’re still in the very beginning of June, DappRadar already has interesting preliminary data, that might hint at the global trend for the month. While the number of transactions on the Ethereum network remains close to the averages displayed during May, Polygon is showing increased activity.
Of course, the data for June is based only on the first week of the month, however, the more-than-double activity Sushi on Polygon is displaying is rather telling. Thanks to its relatively low transaction fees, Polygon is quickly becoming a dominant figure in the DeFi sector.
DappRadar will continue to monitor and compare the activity between these two prominent chains, and more reports are soon to come – stay tuned.