More than 2 million users have used DeFi since 2018, GlassNode reveals

Blockchain analytics firm GlassNode reveals that DeFi ecosystems have welcomed more than 2 million users since 2018, a figure that highlights the incredible growth of these financial platforms. 

In her report “DeFi Uncovered: The State of Decentralized Finance” analysts of GlassNode, a data analytics firm in blockchain, point out that the ecosystems of decentralized finance, Also known as DeFi The acronym for “Information Technology” has experienced explosive growth in recent years, which has been further accentuated since mid-2020, following the crisis caused by the expansion of COVID-19 worldwide.

The report notes that DeFi has scaled to a large number of users around the world, who have been attracted by the potential and opportunities for appreciation and profits that develop within these financial platforms. Thus, GlassNode reveals that Nearly 2,1 million users have been interacting with the DeF ecosystemi, which is developed on the blockchain of Ethereum. 

To determine this figure, GlassNode conducted an extensive analysis of key metrics that describe the adoption, stickiness, and explosive growth of Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem. According to the firm, 2,1 million is the number of unique addresses that have been interacting with Ethereum’s DeFi protocols in some capacity since early 2018.

In its report, GlassNode notes that the number of addresses in DeFi represent about 3% of the total addresses that exist on the Ethereum blockchain, with balances greater than zero, currently. 

Decentralized financial ecosystems gather a total value locked (TVL) of more than 147.000 millions of dollars, according to figures from DeFi Llama. Of this total value, the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem controls about 70%. 

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Over $100.000 Billion in Ethereum DeFi

Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem has already surpassed $100.000 billion in liquidity, becoming a leading sector within the digital industry in less than a year. GlassNode highlights that, in just 8 months, Ethereum's DeFi managed to break industry records by surpassing this level. 

The rise and growth behind decentralized financial ecosystems is related to their ability to offer new financial opportunities for their users and investors. DeFi is popular for its innovative financial products, such as decentralized lending, yield farming, decentralized exchanges, and more. All of these products, combined with decentralization, provide users with new opportunities to truly own their assets, to participate in global capital coordination, and many other innovations. 

As analysts explain, what is happening is “a perfect storm of innovation” accompanied by a new financial spirit that is aligned with development and decentralization.

“Entire communities have been empowered through incentivized participation in DeFi protocols. Incentives that drove users towards products that have effectively grown and retained both users and capital.”

The most innovative Ethereum projects within decentralized finance, and which have unleashed the construction of a large number of new protocols have been Synthetix, which gave rise to Uniswap y Compound Finance, which in turn inspired the creation of “a wave of high-yield agriculture projects”. 

High demand on DEXs

The DEX, as decentralized exchanges are known, have also seen significant growth in recent years. On Ethereum, Uniswap continues to lead the DEX category within DeFi, with liquidity of over $6.600 billion and a daily trading volume exceeding $XNUMX billion. 2.400 million.

The use of DEXs has skyrocketed in the last year, and together these exchanges already have moved more than $86.000 billion in value so far this month. 

Of the total 2,1 million users who have interacted with DeFi in recent years, nearly 1,53 million users have used Uniswap, roughly 73% of DeFi users, at some point.

The interest and demand for DEXs is due to the fact that through these exchanges users can carry out their trading operations without custody, without trusted intermediaries and without data records. 

Decentralized lending protocols

In addition to DEXs, decentralized lending protocols have also seen their demand grow, from users who want to take advantage of their features to access liquidity quickly and without intermediaries, and without having to sell their cryptocurrencies and digital assets. 

The growth of decentralized lending protocols has also seen a huge surge in interest as users are attracted to the earnings they can receive, such as interest, for offering liquidity with their tokens. 

Compound Finance is the DeFi protocol that popularized decentralized lending, and sparked a new range of financial products accessible to everyone equally. 

Stablecoins, an essential element in DeFi

The stablecoins or stablecoins have become a core tenant of DeFi, GlassNode analysts report. Coins like Tether (USDT) y USD Coin (USDC) They are now the foundation in many of the DEX pairs and DeFi lending markets.

DAI, the decentralized stablecoin based on the Maker protocol, has had simply impressive growth, analysts explain. This stablecoin reached more than 4.960 million in circulating supply from its beginnings to the present.

Performance Aggregator Protocols

Finally, GlassNode analysts highlight that yield aggregator protocols, such as Year Finance, have become a very competitive sector within DeFi. 

The strategies that Yearn implements allow its users and investors to maximize their possibilities and returns, which has attracted a large number of investors, who have raised the value of Yearn Finance to 4.210 million, at the time of going to press. 

Following its analysis, GlassNode concludes that DeFi has gone from a niche crypto sector to a leading sector in less than 1 year. 

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