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- Smart contract platform Near (NEAR) beat Ethereum and all other competition in active wallet growth in 2023 according to DappRadar.
- Klaytn (KLAY) and Arbitrum followed while Solana also impressed despite a slow start to the year due to its association with FTX.
Near (NEAR) has emerged as the unlikely winner in active wallet growth in 2023. This was revealed by Crypto intelligence platform DappRadar which noted that the network had experienced a 1,902% growth. This is far greater than its rival Ethereum and all other competitors. These impressive gains for the smart contract platform paint a bullish outlook for the future.
According to DappRadar’s yearly industry report, Near (NEAR) recorded 302,000 new unique active wallets (UAWs) in 2023. Significantly, this marks a 1,902% year-over-year (YoY) increase, the most of any network. Klaytn (KLAY) and layer-2 scaling solution Arbitrum (ARB) followed next, also recording increases with 73,000 new UAWs, representing a 1,099% increase, and 88,000 UAWs, a 624% increase, respectively.
The report notes;
In terms of chain performance, Near, Klaytn, and Arbitrum were the top gainers in UAW percentage increase. They had also a good performance looking with their token, as Near had an increase of 200% since the beginning of the year, Klaytn a 20% and Arbitrum a 32% increase since its launch in March 2023.
This growth demonstrates the steep competition that Ethereum faces in the industry. Its immediate rival Solana recorded only 65,000 new UAWs in 2023, a 76% drop on a year-over-year. Partly, this was because of the slow start to the year, due to its entanglement with the now-defunct FTX crypto exchange. Web3-focused blockchain Hive (HIVE) saw 77,000 new UAWs, representing a 68% fall.
The report continues;
Solana experienced a rough start of the year, influenced by its association with the FTX fallout. However, the Solana ecosystem saw an impressive recovery during the last months of 2023. Hive, primarily hosting the trading card game Splinterlands, also had a difficult year, missing financial targets and reporting significant losses.
Overall data shows that 2023 was a good year for the DApp industry following a 124% YoY increase in UAWs. This accounted for an average of 4.2 million daily UAWs. “In 2023, the DApp industry surpassed all expectations, and reinforced the notion that it’s an enduring and evolving part of the global financial and technological landscape,” the report concludes.
These developments went largely unappreciated with token prices dragging for much of 2023. However, it is a common saying in the crypto community that the best projects are built during the bear market. These projects have done just that, and their reward could come in the 2024 bull run. A majority of the highlighted projects could this year set a new all-time high.
