Crypto monthly active addresses are hitting all-time highs: A16z

A16z’s State of Crypto report shows that DeFi has the largest number of daily active addresses, with stablecoins following closely behind

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Gaming and social are dominating as two big crypto use cases, per a new report from Andreessen Horowitz. 

The State of Crypto 2024 report also revealed that DeFi has the largest number of daily active addresses, though stablecoins are a close second — 34% to 32%. Infrastructure takes third, with roughly 14%.

This cycle is also seeing continued growth, with monthly active addresses hitting an all-time high of 220 million and representing “growth reminiscent of early internet adoption.” Among these addresses, Solana and Base are the most active, with EVM chains accounting for 52 million addresses, while other chains have 174 million.

Read more: A16z is placing a bet on Solana gaming

Breaking that down further, only about 10% of crypto owners are currently active, which translates to somewhere between 30 to 60 million monthly active users. 

“There are a lot of people who are just passive holders, but if we can convert them into active users…That is how I think we grow the use of crypto in the ways that I think we believe is very promising going forward,” Daren Matsuoka, a data scientist at a16z, told Blockworks.

The goal would be to bring folks onchain and “convert those crypto owners into active crypto users,” he continued. 

Read more: Is crypto’s ‘ChatGPT’ moment nearly here?

Venture capital has heavily invested in infrastructure, and according to a16z data, the sector is now showing signs of maturity. This growth is creating positive ripple effects across related areas. For example, blockchains are processing over 50 times as many transactions per second as they did just four years ago.

“The infrastructure is just now starting to get to the point where we can scale these blockchains and unlock new types of applications and new emerging behaviors. I think two good examples are just on the stablecoin side. We’ve seen that stablecoins have found product market fit, and I think it’s largely because transaction fees have come down. Stablecoins are a great product when fees are low,” Matsuoka explained.

Adding to that, DAO treasuries have billions stored that could help make network improvements. 

Source: a16z

As for what’s next, a16z thinks that legislation is on the table for both 2024 and beyond. Institutions are here, and “crypto could become part of a diversified portfolio” for that group of investors — beyond just bitcoin and ETH. 

“The price-innovation cycle will continue to drive the crypto market. When prices go up, people get interested, developers build and new products push the industry forward,” a16z wrote.


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With the recent election, it’s clear that there will be a meaningful shift in crypto regulations and legislation. Trump is likely as pro-crypto as a president can be. He launched (multiple) of his own NFT collections and is launching an Aave wrapper called World Liberty Fi. He has also spoken out and mentioned that he wants to make the United States "the crypto capital of the planet" and transform it into the "Bitcoin superpower of the world". He proposed creating a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile alongside support from Senator Cynthia Lummis, promising to retain 100% of all Bitcoin held by the U.S. government. More importantly, we’re likely to see deregulation across the board in a lot of industries, with crypto being one of them - as Trump has committed to keeping the crypto market largely unregulated. Crypto, DeFi in particular, has historically been knee-capped by overreaching and hostile governmental agencies and regulation by enforcement, as evidenced by the plethora of Wells notices and lawsuits over the past few years. With Donald Trump winning the presidency, Republicans taking control of the Senate, and being on the verge of securing the House, we think it’s likely that crypto realizes positive regulatory clarity. Below, you can find our analysts’ takes:

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