2024 Mainstream Public Chain Performance Review: Data Fluctuations Vary, New Stars Rise

2024 is undoubtedly a landmark year in the history of cryptocurrency development. From the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs to Bitcoin breaking the $100,000 mark, the crypto market shows a stark contrast between extremes. As the core battlefield of the crypto market, the competitive landscape of public chains is also becoming apparent. This article will review the performance of major public chains in 2024 from a data perspective.

This review focuses on popular Layer 1 and Layer 2 public chains, considering dimensions such as TVL for the entire year, token prices, market capitalization, active addresses, and transaction counts, spanning from January 1, 2024, to December 29, 2024. Some public chains that launched their mainnets within the year will compare the initial data at the time of token launch with end-of-year data.

Performance of Layer 1 Public Chains

TVL growth situation

Layer 1 public chains saw an average TVL growth of 707.69% in 2024. Among them, Hyperliquid, TON, and Aptos experienced the most significant growth, each exceeding 10 times. Hyperliquid's TVL has increased by 4407% since its launch, showing particularly outstanding performance.

However, not all public chains are showing growth trends. The TVL of public chains like Fantom and Tron has decreased by varying degrees, falling by 13.95% and 9.17%, respectively.

Daily Active Users

In terms of network activity, Hyperliquid, Sui, and TON saw the highest increase in daily active addresses, reaching 13381.48%, 3350.55%, and 2409.43% respectively. Public chains like Base, Aptos, and Solana also achieved over tenfold growth in daily active data.

It is worth noting that among the 22 public chains analyzed, 9 public chains showed a downward trend in daily active user data. The daily active levels of Near, Blast, Polygon, Avalanche, Cardano, Optimism, and Tron have decreased to varying degrees compared to the beginning of the year.

By the end of the year, Solana became the public chain with the highest number of users, reaching 4 million daily active users, with a peak of 8.8 million daily active users.

daily trading volume

Hyperliquid has again become the fastest-growing public chain, with a trading volume increase of approximately 248,900% this year. The trading volumes of Taiko and Base also grew by 4471.43% and 1948.78%, respectively.

In contrast, the number of transactions on the Avalanche (C-Chain) network has seen the most significant decline, dropping from 2.8 million at the beginning of the year to 260,000, a decrease of 90.71%. However, this is mainly due to the data being at an unusually high peak at the beginning of the year.

Performance of Layer 2 Public Chains

The average TVL of Layer 2 projects has increased by 8515.22%, but this data is mainly influenced by Taiko, whose TVL grew by 825 times. Excluding Taiko, the average growth of other Layer 2 public chains is 294.69%.

In the Layer 2 camp, Taiko and Base are the kings of growth this year. Taiko's TVL increased by 82,500% from its launch to the end of the year, while Base's TVL grew by approximately 721.51% over the year.

However, some Layer 2 public chains are also facing challenges. zkSync's TVL has decreased by 41.25% this year, Optimism has decreased by 16.69%, and Polygon has decreased by 1.67%.

Token Performance

The token market has mixed performance, with about half of the tokens rising and half falling. Hyperliquid's token HYPE performed the best, with an increase of approximately 1272.30% this year, making it the only public chain token to exceed a tenfold increase.

The token prices of Sui, TON, Tron, and BNB Chain have all increased by over 100%. It is worth mentioning that although Solana has been very popular in the market this year, its token SOL has only increased by 92.26%.

Among the declining assets, the tokens of StarkNet and Blast experienced the largest declines, reaching 75% and 65% respectively.

Market Value Changes

Ethereum remains the leader among public chains, with a market capitalization reaching $409.4 billion by the end of the year, a growth of 49.28% over the year. BNB's market capitalization consistently ranks second, with a growth slightly higher than SOL.

Analysis of Individual Public Chain Performance

Solana: The Most Eye-Catching Public Chain of 2024

Solana performed remarkably in 2024, completely emerging from the shadow of the FTX collapse. With the MEME craze, Solana became the public chain with the most users. Its TVL ranking rose from fourth at the beginning of the year to second by the end of the year, while daily active users jumped from eighth to first.

Ethereum: Seeking progress amidst stability

As the big brother of public chains, Ethereum performed steadily in 2024. The number of daily active users grew by 9% over the year, while the number of daily transactions remained basically flat. TVL increased by 127%, but considering the 49% increase in ETH price itself, the actual change is not significant. This steady state may be attributed to the diversion effect of Layer 2.

Sui vs Hyperliquid: Battle of the New Stars

Sui is seen as the main competitor to Solana, with impressive performance in 2024. TVL increased nearly 7 times, daily active users grew 33.5 times, and the highest daily transaction count exceeded 300 million. The token price increase is second only to Hyperliquid, rising about 441.13% this year.

Hyperliquid, as a rising star in the public chain sector, ranks among the top in several data growth rates. However, its overall scale still lags behind public chains like Ethereum or Solana. The development potential of Hyperliquid is enormous by 2025, but it requires stronger and sustained data support.

Conclusion

The landscape of public chains in 2024 is showing a trend of diversified development. Traditional strong players like Ethereum remain stable, while emerging public chains such as Solana, Sui, and Hyperliquid are demonstrating strong growth momentum. The Layer 2 sector has also become a market focus, but it generally faces challenges of poor on-chain performance.

Data shows that the public chains with the highest token growth in 2024 are often the ones with the best growth in active users. This reveals that user growth may be a key indicator in assessing the development potential of a public chain. For investors, deeply analyzing these simple yet crucial data points might be an important way to predict the future of projects.