Footprint: Public Chain Battle Erupts, Avalanche Gears Up

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The Battle of Public Chains Erupts, Various Public Chains Blossom

With the resurgence of DeFi projects, various public chains have been developing rapidly, with concepts like GameFi, NFTFi, and SocialFi gradually emerging. The blockchain industry seems to be entering another "Summer." In addition to the most commonly mentioned Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), some emerging public chains such as Polygon, Terra, Avalanche, and Fantom are also gaining attention. This article uses Footprint Analytics to compare and study the DeFi data dashboard of different public chains. Click here for detailed data.

Since the blockchain crash in May, DeFi experienced a brief slump. Observing the TVL data of the top ten public chains on Footprint Analytics, by mid-August, these chains had returned to their peak values from May after a 3-month interval. Ethereum continues to lead the pack as usual, with a TVL of $140.5 billion as of the publication date.

Ethereum occupies around 75% of the volume in public chains, with the remaining 25% distributed among other chains. BSC ranks second with approximately 10% of the volume, followed by Terra at around 4% and Polygon at around 3%. Polygon has been gaining attention as Ethereum's native Layer2 solution, allowing protocols like Aave, Curve, and Sushiswap to easily transition from Ethereum. Compared to Ethereum's congestion and high gas fees, Polygon has clear advantages.

Polygon has been gaining momentum since May, capitalizing on Ethereum's strong performance. Since Polygon announced the launch of a $100 million DeFi fund in April, its TVL has increased by 5025% in less than six months.

According to the number of protocols recorded on Footprint Analytics, Ethereum has 276 protocols, which is 3.14 times more than the second-ranked BSC. Following closely behind are Polygon, Fantom, and Avalanche, all of which have initiated incentive programs. These chains offer more attractive fees and faster transaction speeds compared to Ethereum, making them noteworthy contenders in the future development of the blockchain industry.

Within these chains, DEX, as a cornerstone of DeFi development, unsurprisingly has the most protocols, followed by Yield and Lending. This is partly influenced by the "DeFi for the People" initiative announced by prominent DeFi protocols such as Aave, Curve, and SushiSwap in August.

Among the top 30 protocols by TVL, Ethereum holds 18, with Aave leading the pack by deploying on Polygon, far surpassing the second place by nearly 2 million. Following closely are InstaDApp, Curve, and Compound, each with TVLs ranging from 13 to 14 million. BSC has 8 protocols in the top 30, with PancakeSwap rightfully ranking first with $5.97 million, followed by Venus with half its volume. Terra ranks third with 4 protocols, led by Anchor in the lending category, followed by Lido and Mirror, also deployed on Ethereum.

The token prices of various chains reflect users' valuation of the chains, affecting transaction costs. According to Footprint Analytics data, ETH is significantly ahead of other tokens, currently priced at $3941. BNB ranks second at $498, but ETH surpasses BNB by a significant 7.9 times. Other tokens showing notable increases include Solana's SOL, Avalanche's AVAX, and Terra's Luna, priced at $162, $47, and $32 respectively. In contrast, Polygon's MATIC is only $1.68. As a side chain of Ethereum, Polygon offers users a significant advantage in transaction fees compared to Ethereum.

In terms of token trading volume, aside from ETH, SOL has gradually surpassed BNB since mid-August. Although SOL still lags behind BSC in terms of TVL, this trend also reflects the level of activity on the chain.

Avalanche Gears Up, AVAX Token Price Rises to Fourth Place

Since BSC's explosive growth in February, followed by Polygon's rapid rise three months later in May, and now three months later in August, Avalanche's rapid growth has caught people's attention. Starting from the second quarter, the fastest-growing public chains after Polygon are Solana and Avalanche, with growth rates of 1497% and 1124% respectively. Solana has been extensively analyzed in a previous report. This time, we aim to further analyze Avalanche using data from Footprint Analytics.

Avalanche experienced explosive growth on August 19th, attributed to the updated Ethereum bridge and Avalanche's liquidity mining reward program. On August 18th, the Avalanche Foundation announced the launch of a $180 million liquidity mining incentive program, Avalanche Rush. The following day, the lending platform Benqi went live, introducing a $3 million 90-day liquidity mining incentive program in collaboration with the Avalanche Foundation. Within just 4 days, the TVL surpassed $1 billion, making it the largest protocol on Avalanche.

Compared to Ethereum's 66 protocols with TVL over $100 million, Avalanche has only 4, indicating significant room for development. Following the Benqi protocol benefiting from the Avalanche Foundation's incentive program are the DEX Trader Joe and Pangolin, as well as the Yield protocol Yield Yak.

Pangolin, the first DEX on Avalanche, launched in February. Despite being influenced by the explosive growth of BSC at the time, it was the largest DEX protocol then. However, up to August, Pangolin has remained relatively stable, while the Trader Joe protocol gained momentum in August and gradually surpassed Pangolin, currently ranking first in the DEX category.

Avalanche's liquidity mining reward program also rewards users with AVAX. Excluding ETH and BNB, AVAX currently ranks second in token price at $47, a 167% increase from $28 on August 18th.

With the push of Avalanche Rush, Avalanche is poised to inherit the top TVL protocols on Ethereum like Aave and Curve. While Avalanche experiences explosive growth in TVL and token price, it is essential to also focus on its security. Ethereum's POW has undergone extensive verification over time, whereas other chains using POS require time for validation. Despite the flourishing public chains and rising premiums, users need to carefully evaluate whether the chains will thrive or face challenges once various incentive programs end.