1. With the network fully utilized, we’re closer to the goal of the “global settlement layer”
“Network utilization” is one of the most basic indicators to measure the operating status of the public chain. It represents the user needs of the Ethereum block and the willingness to use the ETH settlement layer. The utilization rate of the Ethereum network has steadily increased in recent years. As of March 7, 2021, the average gas usage rate within the gas limit range reached 98.3%; the Ethereum network is likely to be the largest “settlement layer” in the blockchain network, going a step further toward the goal of the “global settlement layer”.
2. Despite the historically high hash rate, Ethereum miners still earn a lot
ETH is in its transition to the Pos network as the profit margin of Pow mining is squeezed and the hash rate of the Ethereum network has kept hitting new highs in the past six months. The figure even exceeded 400TH/S in March 2021, up 133.2% year on year (compared with about 171TH/S last year). Yet that still fails to stop miners from investing in machines, an epitome of the optimistic sentiment for Ethereum and the entire market.
3. DeFi users have steadily gained in number
Decentralized finance (DeFi) has embarked on a new journey of growth. Compared with merely 100,000 at the beginning of 2020, the number of DeFi users has exceeded 1.54 million as of February 2021, and the figure is still on the rise. The development of DeFi highlights Ethereum as a promising advanced infrastructure of the peer-to-peer financial system.
4. The TVL (total value locked) has reached historical highs
At the beginning of 2020, the total value locked (TVL) of ETH (the value of ETH and various ERC-20 tokens locked in smart contracts) was approximately US$600 million. In only one year (as of March 8, 2021), the figure has exceeded US$61.513 billion, a more-than-100-fold increase; the top three protocols in terms of TVL are WBTC (US$6,893 million), Maker (US$6,786 million), and BDP (US$6,283 million).
5. DEX trading volume ushered in explosive growth
Leading DEX projects such as Uniswap, Curve, and Balancer undoubtedly come as surprises in 2020. As the largest AMM, Uniswap already accounts for about 50% of the total DEX. According to data, the current DEX transaction volume reached US$72.9 billion in February 2021, nearly 48 times the size last year.
6. The stablecoin on Ethereum hits a record high
As of March 2020, the total amount of stablecoins in circulation on Ethereum has reached US$38.02 billion, US$20.417 billion of which was USDT, an increase of US$400 million in the past week; US$8,898 million of USDC has been in circulation, US$680 million more than the week before; the circulating volume for DAI hit US$2,546 million, with an increase of US$229 million in the past week.
7. Grayscale’s ETH trust holdings have reached new highs
Grayscale Investment Trust’s Ethereum Trust Fund is hoarding ETH. As of March 2021, Grayscale’s trust products have held 2.8% of the ETH supply (about 3.17 million ETH). Other large-scale funds except for Grayscale also have plans to enter the market, making Ethereum ever more scarce.
8. The ETH in the deposit contract has kept soaring
After the Ethereum deposit contract was launched, more than 3,300,100 ETH have been deposited, which is approximately US$5.93 billion, accounting for about 2.87% of the current circulation. This also shows the positive market sentiment toward the next development of Ethereum 2.0, and the best is yet to come.
9. Numbers of active addresses and transactions on the chain both hit a new high
The number of active Ethereum addresses hit a 3-year high, exceeding 670,000 in February 2021, an increase of 83.4% year-on-year in 2020 and an increase of 179.9% compared with 2019;
The number of transactions on the chain has peaked at 1,327,000 as of February 2021, an increase of 88.49% and 180.3% compared with the figures last year and the year before last year respectively. As the Ethereum network has been increasingly utilized, plus the promising solutions such as eip-1559, the Ethereum network will vigorously develop into a new generation of financial transaction networks.
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