Ethereum’s Growth Evident in Rising Unique Addresses Despite Market Competition

Ethereum's historical data unveils a steady climb in daily unique addresses, averaging over 82,000 since its mainnet launch in July 2015.

Ethereum (ETH), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and the frontrunner in Web3 and DeFi blockchain, has seen a steady rise in adoption, usage, and value over time, testified by a growth in the number of unique addresses on the network.

Data retrieved from Etherscan on February 7 reveals that the Ethereum network currently boasts nearly 257.60 million unique addresses. The year 2024 alone has witnessed the creation of approximately 3.54 million new addresses, up from 254.07 million recorded on January 1. The daily increase in Ethereum’s unique addresses for 2024 averaged 95,570, with February 6 seeing an addition of 96,145 addresses.

However, it’s crucial to note that the creation of new unique addresses doesn’t necessarily equate to new users or active usage. A single user can own multiple addresses, some of which may become inactive over time.

Since its inception on July 30, 2015, Ethereum has added an average of over 82,000 daily unique addresses. The real growth spurt began in 2018, with the number of unique addresses increasing nearly 14-fold from less than 18.5 million recorded on December 31, 2017. This translates to an addition of 239.1 million addresses since January 1, 2018, or a daily average of 108,000.

Interestingly, the daily average since 2018 surpasses the averages since Ethereum’s mainnet launch in 2015 and the latest data from 2024. This underscores the significant strides in adoption over the past six years but also indicates a recent slowdown in the activation of addresses.

The current price action of ETH could be a contributing factor to the slower pace of unique address creation, particularly in the wake of the bull markets of 2017 and 2021.

Despite these challenges, Ethereum continues to excel in key DeFi metrics. It dominates over 50% of the total value locked (TVL) across all chains, with protocols built on ETH leading in TVL and decentralized exchange (DEX) volume, such as Uniswap (UNI).

While Ethereum has the potential for further growth as it continues to attract investments, builders, and users, it faces stiff competition from layer-1 competitors to Web3 and DeFi. These competitors are gaining ground with technological advancements, superior scalability, and enhanced user experience (UX). In this highly competitive cryptocurrency market, the Ethereum ecosystem must continually evolve and adapt to maintain its position and growth trajectory.