It is important to continually measure the success of dapps running on the protocols tracked by DappRadar. While volatility is expected in the cryptocurrency markets. The first quarter of 2020 has been witness to some of the most significant events in human history.
It is in that context that we present an overview of the DEX ecosystem in Q1 2020.
- By the end of Q1 2020 decentralized exchange dapps across the top 3 protocols accounted for almost 7000 daily active unique wallets. An increase in active wallets of almost 1000 (15%) compared to 2019 Q4
- Ethereum is the dominant protocol. Holding 64% of the total daily active unique wallet activity
- Daily active unique wallets on Ethereum grew 48% YoY
- The top 3 Ethereum DEX products Kyber, Uniswap, and IDEX account for 51% of total DEX activity in Q1 2020
- The Waves protocol is the clear winner amongst the other protocols tracked by DappRadar. Holding 56% of total DEX wallet activity amongst the other protocols
- Uniswap showed positive trading volume trends in Q1 2020 with growth of 264% in March compared to January 2020
- Kyber showed positive trading volume trends within Q1 2020 with growth of 104% in March compared to January 2020
- IDEX showed more volatility over Q1. In February 2020 value increased by 50%, in March value dropped 17%
Main blockchains
When analyzing the daily active unique wallet data from a 2019-2020 YoY perspective. We observe Ethereum in first place, TRON in second and EOS falling further behind in Q1 2020.
Ethereum
Ethereum DEX dapps daily activity grew YoY by 48%. When comparing Q4 2019 with Q1 2020. Ethereum is upholding a leadership position in the DEX ecosystem showing growth of 41% to 64% respectively. Looking at these figures is becomes clearer why Ethereum DEX dapps are receiving the most media and public attention.
TRON
TRON DEX dapps daily activity decreased YoY with a 64% drop. This was mostly due to TRON dapp TronTrade. Activity in TronTrade peaked in the first quarter of 2019 reaching 2000-3500 DAUs on certain days in March 2019.
In 2020 Q1 TronTrade now shows a stable DAU count of around 900 daily active wallets. In this context, it will be fascinating to see if TRONs Zethyr Exchange and Zethyr Finance products will bridge the gap between the top 2 protocols and show TRONs further maturing as a blockchain.
EOS
EOS DEX dapps daily activity is declining when compared to TRON and ETH. Daily activity on EOS YoY has decreased by 33%. When comparing Q4 2019 with Q1 2020 EOS has observed an enormous drop of 21% and 13% respectively.
Best of the rest
Five other protocols were considered: IOST, VeChain, NEO, Waves & WAX. Waves protocol is the clear winner, holding 56% of total DEX wallets activity within the other 5 protocols analyzed.
OpenData
For the first time, DappRadar introduces OpenData in its analysis. OpenData allows users to analyze and explore blockchain data. Specifically, DeFi and DEX data, including trading volume and unique trader counts. The user-friendly interface means users can query, visualize and explore blockchain data. Then easily save, share and distribute it to the world.
Top 3 Ethereum DEX dapps by trader count
When it comes to decentralized exchanges on Ethereum there are clear leaders holding the majority of activity: Uniswap, Kyber, and IDEX. Looking at the growth of the trader count between Kyber, IDEX, and Uniswap.
Kyber is in 1st position with an increase in average trade count by the end of March 2020 of 18%. However, if we compare to the results of mid-March after the crash, we observe a decrease of 4% on average.
Uniswap sits in 2nd position with a drop in trade count of 17% by the end of March. Meanwhile, when looking with regards to the crash in mid-March we see a drop of 13% on average. This explains that the major decrease by the end of March observed was due to the COVID-19 crash.
IDEX stands third with a drop of 23% by the end of March 2020. The drops observed for Kyber and Uniswap due to COVID-19 also affected IDEX. A decrease of 20% in mid-March was observed which indicates the major drop in IDEX being due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The trading value of top 3 DEX dapps
Uniswap showed positive trading volume growth of 264% in March 2020 compared to January 2020.
Kyber showed positive trading volumes within Q1. With growth of 104% in March 2020 compared to January 2020.
IDEX trading volumes showed some volatility over Q1. In February 2020 value increased by 50%, in March 2020 value dropped 17%.
The DEX ecosystem is still maturing but it is clear that one protocol is way out ahead when it comes to value created and daily activity. With other protocols such as TRON and Waves rising to halt Ethereum’s dominance of the DEX ecosystem we are very excited to see how the next 6 months unfold.
