Decentralized applications (dApps) saw a 77% increase in activity in the first quarter of 2024, reaching a total of 7 million daily active user wallets.
This growth comes after Bitcoin hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2024, reaching more than $73,000.
DApp activity is back
According to DappRadar, recent new user growth indicates a strong recovery, indicating that the longest bear market experienced is over.
This growth was driven by the approval of the U.S. Spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which sent Bitcoin to multiple all-time highs.
DappRadar also noted a resurgence of interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) throughout 2023 after a decline in usage in 2022. The daily wallet number of unique active users jumped to 4.8 million in 2023 and doubled from 2022. It had the largest year-over-year growth of 166%.
This strength continues well into 2024, with DappRadar noting that transaction volume surged 50% to $3.9 billion and revenue increased 13% to $11.6 million in the first quarter of 2024. doing.
Blockchain gaming continues to lead in Web3, accounting for a 30% advantage and attracting approximately 2.1 million unique active wallets daily, an increase of 59% from the previous quarter. NFT game collections are also doing well, with the highest sales in the first quarter of 2024 being 1 million copies of Gods Unchained, 459,000 copies of Axie Infinity, and 19,000 copies of Arena of Faith.
However, in the first quarter of 2024, active wallets increased by 324%, putting social verticals at the forefront of the sector's growth. Decentralized finance, gaming, and NFTs have fared well, but the rise of social media dApps could signal a new trend in the industry.
Hacks and exploits remain
In the first quarter of 2024, the blockchain space suffered losses of $407 million due to hacks and exploits. This amount was down 32% from Q4 2023, but up 9% compared to Q1 2023, indicating that security challenges remain.
Ethereum took the lead with 57% of total losses, followed by BNB Chain with 17% and Arbitrum with 14%. Other chains accounted for his remaining 12%.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen's Ripple Chain account was compromised, resulting in the loss of 213 million XRP tokens worth approximately $112.5 million. Another incident involved the hacked Manchable protocol, which led to the loss of his 17,400 ETH worth $62.5 million. Moreover, the exchange sector was also hit after BitForex was implicated in an exit scam involving his suspicious outflow of $56.5 million across multiple blockchains.
