Crypto market is ‘healthier’ than prices may indicate, says a16z report

Crypto prices are languishing way below the dizzying heights of 2021, even with Bitcoin’s (BTC) price breaching the $30,000 mark. And yet, despite the crypto winter last year, the market has matured and made progress, according to a16z’s latest ‘State of Crypto’ report.

In a blog post on April 11, a16z noted:

“… the report reflects a healthier industry than market prices may indicate, and a steady cycle of development, product launches, and ongoing innovation.”

Here are a few key takeaways from the report that highlights the strength of the industry:

Active users on blockchains have increased

The report indicates that blockchain adoption has increased with more and more new users interacting with blockchain applications. Last month, the number of active addresses reached an all-time high of 15 million — nearly twice the number of active addresses two years ago.

One plausible explanation for this spike is that users have increasingly more ways to engage with blockchains and Web 3.0, the report noted. With decentralized finance (DeFi) expanding and 700 new Web 3.0 games launched last year, users have more ways than ever to interact with blockchains.

Moreover, the advancement of scaling solutions has lowered gas fees and attracted more users — blockchain transactions are up 50% over the past two years, a16z noted.

DeFi and NFT transactions are increasing

According to the report, decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap recorded higher trading volume than Coinbase over the past two months. Collectively, DEXs saw monthly trading volumes of over $100 billion last month, a16z noted. This indicates that the popularity and adoption of DeFi are on the rise.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), too, are once again gaining momentum as the speculation period cooled off. The number of NFT buyers has increased while NFT creators earned over $1.9 billion in royalties over the last two years, according to the report.

The number of active developers remains steady

Developers were…