The Polygon network pulled in a higher number of active addresses than Ethereum, with MATIC jumping more than 5% in the last 24 hours.
Polygon temporarily overtook Ethereum with its number of active addresses on Monday. The former, a layer-two protocol, has experienced a massive 330% surge in active addresses over the past three months. Meanwhile, Ethereum declined by 12% for the same metric across the same period recorded. This is a strong indicator of how well the general growth of layer-2 protocol is this year alone. According to Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic, Polygon registered 351,000 daily active addresses on Monday, to Ethereum’s 326,000. In Bjelic’s own words:
“Another huge milestone for @xPolygon! We eclipsed Ethereum L1 in daily active addresses for the first time! This is just the beginning. We are working round the clock to improve our tech, strengthen our ecosystem and increase adoption. Let’s bring the world to Ethereum!”
Bjelic expressed delight at Polygon outperforming the high-fee layer-one Ethereum early this week and suggested more such stats to come.
According to Polygonscan, on September 20, the number of active addresses surged and eventually crested at 426,586 on Monday. However, it dipped back down to 385,740. Furthermore, according to Etherscan, the number of daily active addresses for Ethereum was 457,402 on Wednesday. However, in terms of cumulative unique addresses, Ethereum still leads with 170.8 million as of Wednesday.
Meanwhile, as of the same Wednesday, Polygon registered 89 million total district addresses. In addition, it is worth noting that Matic only recently rebranded to Polygon in February. This means it experienced its own growth in a relatively shorter period of time.
Presently, Polygon also has a larger number of transactions, with 5.7 million total transactions recorded on Wednesday, according to Polygonscan. By comparison, Ethereum’s layer one has 1.1 million. This is predominantly a result of Ethereum’s high fees, which recently increased again.
Polygon TVL Is $4.81B Even as It Goes Neck-and-neck with Ethereum for Active Addresses
According to Defi Llama, the total value locked (TVL) of all Polygon protocols is around $4.81 billion. Although this is still impressively high, it represents half of its $10.54 billion all-time high it hit in mid-June. Furthermore, the most popular protocol on the network is Aave, a flash loan platform. It accounts for $1.77 billion TVL, or 37% of the total.
Polygon was the beneficiary of a great endorsement boost in May when billionaire businessman Mark Cuban added it to his portfolio. Also, according to CoinGecko, Polygon’s native token (still called MATIC) gained 5.2% over the last 24 hours to reach $1.14.
Ethereum’s transaction fees surged recently, which is why there are increased activities on layer-two protocols. BitInfoCharts reports that the average transaction price on the Ethereum protocol currently sits at $23. In addition, more complex operations can cost as high as $66 in gas, according to Etherscan. These include decentralized exchange token swapping or smart contract interactions. Ethereum price currently sits just north of $3,000.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
