Onchain exercise declined sharply on a number of main networks, in line with Nansen information, with 11 blockchains posting drops in lively addresses up to now yr.
Ronin fell probably the most at 70%, whereas Bitcoin registered a 7.2% decline. A number of Ethereum layer-2 networks made the checklist.
Nansen information additionally confirmed drops in transaction exercise throughout lots of the identical networks. ZKsync recorded one of many steepest declines, with transactions falling 90%.
In the meantime, Ethereum’s base layer recorded a 25% improve in lively addresses and greater than a 20% rise in transactions, whilst debate continued round Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap and issues over liquidity fragmentation throughout layer-2 networks.
Networks with the largest utilization declines
Pixels is a well-liked recreation that migrated to Ronin from Polygon within the second half of 2023. On the time, Ronin had roughly 20,000 each day lively customers earlier than Pixels’ arrival drove a pointy improve in exercise, briefly making Ronin the second-most lively chain by each day customers.
By December 2024, Pixels registered round 300,000 each day lively customers, in line with DappRadar. The sport’s recognition has since declined, and Ronin’s onchain exercise has fallen alongside it, exhibiting the community’s reliance on hit video games.
A number of Ethereum layer-2 networks additionally skilled a decline in utilization as exercise tied to airdrops cooled. ZKsync’s token airdrop declare opened in June 2024. The community mentioned practically 700,000 wallets have been eligible whereas warding off criticism of its Sybil filtering. Nansen information confirmed that greater than 40% of the highest airdrop wallets instantly offered their allocations. Scroll additionally appeared on the checklist following its October 2024 airdrop, after which onchain exercise slowed down.
Arbitrum noticed lively addresses fall by 3%, although its roughly 31 million customers nonetheless ranked it among the many prime 10 networks by exercise. The Ethereum rollup carried out its airdrop in 2023, and its transaction quantity rose 36% over the previous yr to about 734.5 million, beating Ethereum’s 507 million transactions. Arbitrum drew exercise from tokenized belongings, together with 500 US shares stamped on the community by Robinhood.
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Base and Optimism stood out amongst Ethereum layer-2 networks. Each posted will increase in lively addresses and transaction volumes. Base doesn’t have a local token and has by no means carried out an airdrop. Onchain exercise rose alongside curiosity in areas equivalent to memecoins, AI-related purposes and decentralized exchanges.
Solana recorded probably the most lively addresses within the business with greater than 1 billion, adopted by Tron and Ethereum. BNB Chain posted a 159% improve in lively addresses, whereas Bitcoin was the one community within the prime 5 to document a decline, alongside a 22% drop in transactions.
What the declines do and don’t present
The info confirmed little constant relationship between onchain utilization and token costs. Solana’s value fell over the previous yr regardless of a 66% improve in lively addresses, whereas BNB’s (BNB) token value rose alongside elevated community exercise.
The year-over-year declines don’t essentially level to terminal issues for the networks concerned. Onchain exercise can swing sharply as purposes migrate, incentive packages wind down or customers shift between chains, significantly amongst newer networks nonetheless establishing their core use instances.
Telegram-linked blockchain The Open Community (TON) additionally recorded a 47% drop in lively addresses and a 51% decline in transactions, a reversal that adopted outsized development in 2024. Telegram-based mini-games drove a lot of that earlier exercise, drawing in customers past the platform’s typical crypto-native viewers.
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Hamster Kombat was among the many most outstanding examples. The tapping-based recreation lowered the barrier to entry by way of easy mechanics and drew heavy participation from customers anticipating a future token airdrop. Based on Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, the viral recreation attracted 239 million customers inside three months, with greater than 130 million qualifying for its airdrop in late September.
Nansen information reveals that TON’s lively addresses peaked at roughly 2.5 million per day on Sept. 30. Exercise has since fallen again as engagement tied to Hamster Kombat cooled, underscoring how short-lived surges can distort year-over-year comparisons.
A number of chains retained utilization after hype
The previous yr’s blockchain information reveals that onchain exercise shifts shortly between networks relatively than remaining anchored to any single chain. Utilization fell most sharply on blockchains the place exercise had been concentrated round a small variety of purposes, incentive packages or viral moments.
On the identical time, these declines don’t mechanically sign broader ecosystem failure. In a number of instances, exercise cooled after durations of outsized development, highlighting how year-over-year comparisons might be distorted by hype cycles, airdrops or short-lived purposes.
Solana affords a helpful distinction. Whereas memecoin-driven exercise boomed all through 2024 and early 2025 earlier than cooling towards the tip of the yr, the surge additionally introduced in customers, liquidity and purposes that continued to help the community.
Solana’s each day lively addresses peaked above 9 million on Oct. 22, 2024, throughout the top of memecoin buying and selling. By December, each day customers fluctuated between 2 million and three million. Whereas that marked a pointy pullback from peak ranges, exercise remained persistently greater than earlier than the increase.
A lot of the previous yr’s onchain exercise decline was pushed by short-term profit-seeking, however networks equivalent to Solana, BNB Chain and Base confirmed indicators of retaining utilization past viral surges, setting them aside from chains that noticed sharper reversals.
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