Polygon’s Remarkable User Surge in 2023 Nearly on Par with Ethereum: Report

• Polygon (MATIC), a layer-2 scaling network, nearly matched Ethereum’s user base in 2023, with significant growth in NFT sales and overall user acquisition.
• Ethereum maintained its lead, especially in the second half of 2023, but Polygon’s close performance signals a shift in user behavior and crypto market dynamics.

In a recent report from CNF, it was highlighted that Polygon (MATIC) achieved a historic milestone by surpassing Ethereum (ETH) in 24-hour NFT sales. This marks a significant achievement for the layer-2 (L2) network. According to blockchain analytics firm Flipside Crypto, after the launch of Base in August 2023, Polygon nearly matched Ethereum in terms of crypto user acquisition in 2023.

Data from Bitget reveals that Polygon, an Ethereum scaling solution, boasted 15.24 million users acquired in 2023, just approximately 160,000 short of Ethereum’s 15.4 million. In a recent tweet, Flipside Crypto, a firm specializing in on-chain data analysis, suggests that not only has sentiment changed recently, but user behavior is shifting, impacting the crypto markets.

Is the bull is really here? How can we tell?

Data.

Sentiment isn't the only thing that's changed lately. According to the data, user behavior is shifting — and with it, crypto markets.

We cover it all in The Onchain Crypto User Report pic.twitter.com/IsclNOZhJk

— Flipside (@flipsidecrypto) January 25, 2024

Interestingly, Polygon led in user acquisition for the first half of 2023 but was ultimately overtaken by Ethereum, which retained the lead through the second half of the year. The firm suggests that optimism across more established chains toward the end of the year may have contributed to a decline in Polygon’s user growth. This is because networks like Ethereum had more robust and diverse app ecosystems for users to engage with.

However the next bull run may bode well for Base’s user growth, given Coinbase’s efforts to serve as a crypto gateway for new users.

At present, as indicated in the graph below, Polygon is trading at $0.7353, marking an increase of 1.03% in the past day, following a decrease of 6.03% in the past week.

In my opinion, the remarkable surge in Polygon’s user base in 2023, nearly matching that of Ethereum, underscores a significant shift in the blockchain landscape and highlights the growing prominence of layer-2 networks in the crypto ecosystem.