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Decentralized applications (dApps) saw a 77% growth in activity during the first quarter of 2024, with a total of 7 million daily active user wallets.
Bitcoin reached a historic high in the first quarter of 2024, surpassing $73,000.
Resurgence in dApp Activity
According to data from DappRadar, recent increases in new users indicate a strong resurgence, signaling the end of the longest bear market.
This growth is attributed to the approval of the United States' spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which led to record-high Bitcoin trading volumes.
DappRadar also noted that after a decline in usage in 2022, interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) surged again throughout 2023. The number of unique daily active user wallets doubled to 4.8 million in 2023 compared to 2022. Additionally, NFTs experienced the fastest growth, increasing by 166% compared to the previous year.
This momentum continued into 2024, with DappRadar indicating a 50% increase in transaction volume and a 13% increase in sales revenue to $116 million during the first quarter of 2024.
Blockchain gaming continued to lead in the Web3 space, capturing 30% of the market share and attracting approximately 2.1 million daily unique active wallets, a 59% increase from the previous quarter. NFT gaming collections also performed well, with "Gods Unchained" leading in sales revenue for the first quarter of 2024 at $1 million, followed by Axie Infinity with $459,000, and "Arena of Faith" with $19,500.
However, in the first quarter of 2024, the social vertical emerged as the industry's growth leader, with active wallets increasing by 324%. While decentralized finance, gaming, and NFTs performed well, the growth of social media dApps may indicate emerging trends in the industry.
Hack Attacks and Exploits Persist
In the first quarter of 2024, the blockchain sector lost $407 million due to hack attacks and exploits. Although this amount decreased by 32% compared to the first quarter of 2023, it increased by 9%, indicating ongoing security challenges.
Ethereum led the losses, accounting for 57% of the total, followed by BNB Chain at 17%, and Arbitrum at 14%. Other chains collectively made up the remaining 12%.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen's Ripple chain account was compromised, resulting in the loss of approximately 213 million XRP tokens worth about $112 million. Another incident involved the Munchables protocol being hacked, resulting in a loss of 174,000 ETH, equivalent to $62.5 million. Additionally, BitForex was involved in an exit scam, with suspicious funds totaling up to $56.5 million flowing out across multiple blockchains, dealing a blow to the exchange industry. |
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