DeFi affects 1 million users, Ethereum usage on the rise

There are now over a million DeFi users.

Dune Analytics has published data that analyzes the use of the main DeFi protocols. It found that 1,001,461 unique addresses interact within the sub-niche as of December 5th.

The platforms analyzed included Uniswap, Compound, Aave, MakerDao, Rarible and Nexus Mutual—Staples of the Ethereum network.

The data shows that DeFi has experienced exponential growth through 2020. The year started with around 100,000 addresses, which means there has been a tenfold increase.

Richard Chen, the creator of the Dune Analytics dashboard for “DeFi users over time,” attributed the boom in yield farming this summer as the main driver of growth.

In April, when I first made the @DuneAnalytics dashboard I predicted that we would reach 1 million users by March 2021. Then, during the summer, the agricultural harvest took place that accelerated DeFi’s growth. https://t.co/cyRnLcNrR8

– Richard Chen (@ richardchen39) December 4, 2020

Importantly, the data only evaluates the number of unique Ethereum addresses. It is therefore possible that users with multiple addresses could distort the data.

However, since MetaMask announced which had surpassed one million monthly users in October, Dune Analytics data is likely a good indicator that the number of DeFi users is close to seven digits.

The dataset also shows the usage of each individual protocol over time. While most have seen gradual increases, Uniswap, Rarible, Hegic, and Compound have seen spikes in users over the past couple of months.

2020 has been a big year for the entire cryptocurrency space, but decentralized finance on Ethereum looks set to grow even more if the trends continue.

Disclaimer: The author of this feature owns ETH, UNI, and WNXM among a number of other cryptocurrencies. One or more members of the Crypto Briefing Management team are investors in Hegic.