AI hype: Blockchain activity soars 70 percent

Decentralized applications in Web3, called dApps, are becoming increasingly popular. A new report from dApp Radar shows impressive numbers.

Activity on dApps, or decentralized applications, increased significantly in the third quarter of this year. Total dApp usage increased by a whopping 70 percent from the previous quarter. The number of daily unique active wallets (UAWs) reached 17.2 million.

One category in particular stood out: AI. A total of 4.3 million users used AI dApps, according to the latest report from dApp Radar. Gaming remains the dominant player within the dApp sector. The report states:

"Although the gaming sector is still the largest, its market share has declined slightly, reflecting growing trends in DeFi and NFTs. Despite this decline in market share, the gaming sector remains the leader in user activity and maintains its dominant position in the industry."

However, not all sectors performed so well. DeFi's Total Value Locked (TVL) fell five percent and now stands at US$160 billion.

"The DeFi sector had a difficult third quarter in 2024, with TVL continuing its downward trend. By the end of the quarter, TVL fell to $160 billion from $168 billion in Q2, reflecting continued market uncertainty despite some positive regulatory developments," the report said.

Ethereum remains the dominant force in the DeFi space, with a TVL of $95 billion in Q3 2024. Yet Ethereum also down 20 percent relative to the second quarter of 2024, despite the adoption of ETH ETFs. On the other hand, the Layer-1 blockchains Sui and Aptos experienced strong growth. The TVL of these two blockchains grew by a whopping 78 percent.