February 2021 Dapp Industry Report: The industry is rapidly heading towards the next wave of growth - NFTs

This article was published on DappRadar.

DappRadar was founded in 2018 and tracks over 2,900 dapps (decentralized applications) across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, EOS, and TRON. The company today released the "February 2021 Dapp Industry Report," and below is the main text of the report.

February 2021 was an exciting month for the crypto industry, with Bitcoin reaching a historic high of $58,000 and Ethereum hitting a peak of $2,000. The DeFi ecosystem continues to lead the industry, while interest in NFTs and digital collectibles has also increased.

Several Ethereum DeFi projects are migrating to other blockchains. Most notably, the ongoing development of Binance Smart Chain (BSC) has begun to show results.

Binance Smart Chain now surpasses Ethereum in both transaction volume and unique active wallets (UAWs). However, the total value locked (TVL) is still four times lower than that of the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.

The NFT industry is becoming mainstream. NBA Top Shots continues to lead the field. Meanwhile, CryptoPunks continues to make headlines. Earlier this month, Hashmask NFTs were still a hot project, but by the end of February, they were replaced by new projects like Euler Beats. Art NFTs are also gaining fame, with Beeple's CrossRoad selling for $6.6 million on the secondary market.

The Surge of Ethereum Competitors

Ethereum's high gas fees remain an issue, creating opportunities for its competitors.

Some Ethereum DeFi dapps are moving to other blockchains. For example, 1inch.exchange has recently expanded to BSC. Meanwhile, Curve Finance recently announced that it will soon implement on Equilibrium's Polkadot parachain.

At the same time, Cardano is expected to launch a hard fork in early March, and Cosmos has launched Stargate. The development of these blockchain solutions indicates that competition for Ethereum will become more intense in the future.

On the L2 front, Polygon (formerly Matic Network) has made several attempts to become a key player. They already have many major crypto gaming projects, such as Neon District and Blockchain Cuties, choosing them for scalability purposes.

Additionally, with the launch of the QuickSwap decentralized exchange (DEX), the network seems to be expanding its reach. In the last week of February, QuickSwap's 7-day trading volume grew by 180%, reaching $25 million.

Overall, Ethereum's biggest competitor at the moment is Binance Smart Chain. In just the past month, 77 new DeFi dapps were launched, which is double that on Ethereum.

BSC Surpasses Ethereum in UAWs and Transaction Volume

Ethereum has long faced competition from other blockchains like Tron and EOS, but it has remained firmly in its position. However, BSC is now changing the game.

According to DappRadar ranking data, as of the end of February, there were over 67,000 unique active wallets on the Ethereum mainnet. This is a 9% decrease compared to January, indicating a downward trend in user activity.

In contrast, there were over 108,000 unique active wallets on BSC in February, a 27% increase.

Transaction volume follows a similar pattern. Overall, the Ethereum blockchain generated over $181 billion in revenue, while BSC's transaction volume exceeded $700 billion in February. More than half of the revenue came from a DeFi dapp called Venus ($400 billion).

Ethereum Still Leads in TVL

Despite losing its lead in some key metrics, Ethereum did reach a milestone in February. The total value locked (TVL) has surpassed $40 billion. The TVL increased by $4 billion within February. This indicates that Ethereum's growth momentum remains strong, and it still leads in terms of TVL.

The TVL on Binance Smart Chain continues to grow, but it is still far below that of Ethereum. According to defistation.io, the current total value locked on Binance Smart Chain is $9.5 billion.

NFT Industry Sales Hit Record Highs

The NFT industry peaked in February 2021. The top three NFT markets are NBA Top Shot, OpenSea, and CryptoPunks, with a total trading volume of $342 million.

The most unusual sale occurred in the last week of February. On the Nifty Gateway secondary market, Beeple's CrossRoad artwork was acquired for $6.6 million.

Additionally, interest in creative art surged. Art Blocks quickly sold out, and the audio project Euler Beats launched on February 15, generating over $10.3 million in trading volume a week later.

NBA Top Shot, Hashmasks, and CryptoPunks continue to make headlines. One Hashmask sold for 420 ETH (approximately $640,000). In the past 30 days, Hashmasks ranked third in sales, exceeding $33 million.

For CryptoPunks, February was also an extraordinary month, achieving a historic high sales volume of $79 million. Furthermore, the minimum price for CryptoPunks has now increased from $10,000 at the beginning of February to over $40,000. The current average price is around $32,000.

OpenSea is one of the largest NFT markets on Ethereum, and it has also made several announcements that led to increased activity. First, the market will now support the Flow blockchain. Second, they have begun to launch exclusive digital collectibles.

Finally, NBA Top Shot has surpassed $226 million in sales.

Conclusion

In summary, Ethereum's scalability issues persist, and thus, Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions have begun to strengthen their positions in the market.

In February, BSC surpassed Ethereum in both transaction volume and unique active wallets, but the TVL is still four times lower than that of the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.

The NFT industry has begun to show its true potential. Notable projects like CryptoPunks have reached historic high sales, and the performance of new projects in the industry is also impressive.

Overall, the blockchain industry is rapidly moving toward the next wave of growth: NFT dapps.