Crypto Industry Remains Stable in the Face of Geopolitical Crisis: Report

Hacks and exploits have managed to fetch at least $1.19 billion in the first three months of 2022. The macros cues haven’t been very favorable either. But the uncertainty and war-based nerves have failed to deter users in the blockchain space. DappRadar reveals that the decentralized application (dApp) industry has recorded a whopping 2.38 million daily unique active wallets (UAW) connected to blockchain applications in the first quarter of 2022.

The State of Blockchain Usage

In the latest Q1 2022 Dapp Industry Report shared with CryptoPotato, the analysis platform stated that blockchain usage has remained stable, even as it shed around 6% against Q4, 2021. It is worth noting that usage was up by 396% from Q1, 2021.

Modesta Masoit, Head of Finance and Research at DappRadar, commented,

“The industry is under a significant stress test and, so far, is handling things well and showing the true potential of cryptocurrencies and dapps. Leading gaming projects solidified their positions while DeFi embraced gamification to appeal to a broader audience.”

The exec also weighed in on the NFT players and added,

“NFT collectors have become savvier and seek actual utility as projects look to deliver on promises made and new projects keep emerging. This period feels reminiscent of the post-2017 ICO phase. Now it’s time to see who’s in for the long haul.”

Gaming dApps, which had a stellar 2021, have managed to keep their boat sailing despite representing a 5.8% decrease from the fourth quarter last year. The hype around NFTs has indeed stalled, and while calls for a bubble burst have started to gain momentum, the space has generated $12 billion in trades in Q1.

This is excluding the figures of the controversial NFT marketplace LooksRare. For the uninitiated, the platform rose to prominence in terms of transaction volume this year. But reports suggested that a bulk of transactions were due to wash sales, meaning users selling digital collectibles to themselves to earn more coins.

DeFi Was Hit the Hardest

The industry’s total value locked (TVL) and the number of unique active wallets connected to DeFi dApps slumped significantly in tandem with the price of cryptocurrencies. By the end of March, the DeFi TVL took a reversal of 8.4% since December 2021. However, the report also noted that despite the usage and TVL downturn, DeFi’s appeal demonstrated consolidation and is evolving to broaden its appeal.

The DeFi market has since undergone recovery, and while Ethereum continues to dominate the leaderboard, Terra has managed to position itself as the second network in terms of TVL with $23 billion locked at the end of March, growing by 68% from Q4, 2021.