Data: Ethereum’s active address count is growing almost twice as fast as Bitcoin’s

The number of active addresses on Ethereum is growing at a faster rate than that of Bitcoin.

Much of this is thanks to DeFi dapps.

...and Ponzi schemes.

The number of active Ethereum addresses has more than doubled since the beginning of 2020. Ethereum’s number of active addresses is growing almost twice as fast as Bitcoin’s.

Data from blockchain analytics site Messari shows that the number of active Ethereum addresses has increased by 118% since the beginning of the year. In contrast, the number of active Bitcoin addresses has increased by 49%.

Ethereum unique active address growth has significantly outpaced Bitcoin in 2020. Image: Messari

Ethereum’s DeFi Boom

Why are more people turning to Ethereum than Bitcoin? One obvious answer is that Ethereum is home to the top decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

By early June, the rise of DeFi applications on Ethereum pushed the total number of unique addresses on the Ethereum blockchain to over 100 million. Dapp.com estimated in a July report that DeFi applications account for more than 97% of all Ethereum Dapp volume.

The 100 million figure represents every unique address used in an Ethereum transaction, both sender and receiver. Obviously, this does not capture those users who use multiple addresses, and therefore does not fully reflect the growth of the Ethereum user base.

However, data from Bitinfocharts, which tracks transactions from unique Ethereum addresses, shows that since January 1, active Ethereum addresses have grown 160%, from 208,392 to 542,458.

More conservative data from Bitinfocharts also shows that ETH addresses are growing rapidly. Image: Bitinfocharts

Meanwhile, the number of unique active addresses for Bitcoin has simultaneously increased by 42%, rising from 585,047 on January 1 to 832,751 on July 10. This lines up nicely with Messari’s data and proves that Ethereum is currently experiencing a surge in interest and activity.

Securities and Ponzi scheme projects squeeze Ethereum network resources

But while the rise of DeFi has undoubtedly contributed to the surge in unique Ethereum addresses, another type of Ethereum-based Dapp may also play a significant role.

As Decrypt reported on July 5, Forsage, the most popular Dapp by number of users, accounts for nearly 13% of Ethereum’s gas consumption. Gas is the “fuel” that runs Ethereum and is used as a measure of the price of performing computations on the network.

This means that Forsage (which the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission condemned as an unregistered security) is hoarding 13% of the entire Ethereum blockchain. The emergence of a Russian Ponzi scheme (MMM Global) also prompted Ethereum's hashrate hoarding. These operations typically see funds transferred from one address to another, increasing the total number of unique addresses on Ethereum.

Today, Forsage accounts for 12.5% ​​of Ethereum’s gas usage, according to Dune Analytics, while ETH Gas Station puts the figure at 15.8%.

Either way, Ethereum researcher and developer Philippe Castonguay told Decrypt it is “inevitable and unstoppable,” and that Ponzi schemes should be taken into account when considering the growth of Ethereum usage.