Crypto monthly active addresses are hitting all-time highs: A16z

Gaming and social are dominating as two big crypto use cases, per a new report from Andreessen Horowitz. 

The State of Crypto 2024 report also revealed that DeFi has the largest number of daily active addresses, though stablecoins are a close second — 34% to 32%. Infrastructure takes third, with roughly 14%.

This cycle is also seeing continued growth, with monthly active addresses hitting an all-time high of 220 million and representing “growth reminiscent of early internet adoption.” Among these addresses, Solana and Base are the most active, with EVM chains accounting for 52 million addresses, while other chains have 174 million.

Read more: A16z is placing a bet on Solana gaming

Breaking that down further, only about 10% of crypto owners are currently active, which translates to somewhere between 30 to 60 million monthly active users. 

“There are a lot of people who are just passive holders, but if we can convert them into active users…That is how I think we grow the use of crypto in the ways that I think we believe is very promising going forward,” Daren Matsuoka, a data scientist at a16z, told Blockworks.

The goal would be to bring folks onchain and “convert those crypto owners into active crypto users,” he continued. 

Read more: Is crypto’s ‘ChatGPT’ moment nearly here?

Venture capital has heavily invested in infrastructure, and according to a16z data, the sector is now showing signs of maturity. This growth is creating positive ripple effects across related areas. For example, blockchains are processing over 50 times as many transactions per second as they did just four years ago.

“The infrastructure is just now starting to get to the point where we can scale these blockchains and unlock new types of applications and new emerging behaviors. I think two good examples are just on the stablecoin side. We’ve seen that stablecoins have found product market fit, and I think it’s largely because transaction fees have come down. Stablecoins are a great product when fees are low,” Matsuoka explained.

Adding to that, DAO treasuries have billions stored that could help make network improvements. 

As for what’s next, a16z thinks that legislation is on the table for both 2024 and beyond. Institutions are here, and “crypto could become part of a diversified portfolio” for that group of investors — beyond just bitcoin and ETH. 

“The price-innovation cycle will continue to drive the crypto market. When prices go up, people get interested, developers build and new products push the industry forward,” a16z wrote.

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