In 2023, Layer-2 scaling network Polygon nearly attracted the same number of cryptocurrency users as Ethereum, according to blockchain analytics company Flipside.
Polygon, an Ethereum scaling solution, claimed 15.24 million new users in 2023—roughly 160,000 fewer than Ethereum's 15.4 million users.
According to Flipside, an acquired user is someone who has completed at least two transactions on a specific blockchain, at least one of which was completed in 2023.
It's interesting to note that Ethereum finally passed Polygon in the first half of 2023, maintaining its lead for the duration of the second half of the year.
“Polygon kicked off the year with an impressive 2.8MM acquired users in January — accounting for over 40% of the network’s total acquired users in 2023,” Flipside noted, adding that the Layer-2 scaling network has been steadily losing its momentum in terms of new users, but it is still performing better than other networks.
With 10.65 million acquired users, Bitcoin ranked third, followed by Solana and Arbitrum in the top five.
Optimism, Avalanche, Base, and the other eight tracked blockchains recorded 62 million acquired users in total. According to Flipside, the number of new users recruited peaked in May and then progressively decreased after that.
But why the accumulation?
One of Flipside’s theories is that the user increase coincided with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank In March 2023, as customers began losing confidence in centralized banking solutions and looked for a decentralized way to manage their crypto funds.
According to the company, of the top-10 entities, Base, started its user growth really strong in August 2023, but the user volumes marked a rapid decline in the next several months. It turns out that the steady rise in crypto giants like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as their underlying networks, may have lured customers, due to these networks having “more robust, diverse app ecosystems“.