Blockchain active addresses hit 220M milestone

A recent report from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) highlights a record-breaking milestone for blockchain usage, with 220 million unique addresses interacting with blockchains at least once in September 2024.

This represents a threefold increase compared to the end of 2023.

The report, titled "State of Crypto," emphasises how blockchain adoption has grown significantly across multiple networks.

Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) leads the charge with 100 million active users, followed by NEAR (CRYPTO:NEAR) at 31 million, and Coinbase's Layer 2 network, Base, with 22 million.

Tron registered 14 million users, placing it fourth.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) followed with 11 million active users, while Binance’s BNB Chain (CRYPTO:BNB) recorded 10 million.

Solana saw increasing interest among blockchain developers, with an 11.2% growth in engagement from last year.

Similarly, Base experienced a 10.7% rise in activity from crypto builders, demonstrating its growing presence.

The Bitcoin ecosystem also attracted more attention from crypto founders, with interest increasing to 4.2% from 2.6% in 2023.

The report also highlights the rapid growth of stablecoins, which processed $8.5 trillion in volume during the second quarter of 2024, surpassing Visa's $3.9 trillion for the same period.

Darren Matsuoka, a16z researcher, remarked that stablecoins have become the “killer app” in the crypto ecosystem, driven by low transaction fees.

On networks like Base, sending USDC costs less than a penny, compared to an average of $44 for international wire transfers.

Additionally, the report noted that crypto is becoming a more prominent issue in U.S. politics ahead of the upcoming election.

Candidates such as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have engaged with the crypto community, with swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin seeing a rise in crypto-related search interest.

The introduction of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) ETFs, which currently hold nearly $90 billion in on-chain assets, has further fueled this growing interest.