29. November 2023

DeFi Sees 31% Jump in Users Despite 2022 Crypto Winter

• DeFi continues to attract more users despite crypto winter in 2022
• User wallets across DeFi segments surpassed 5 million in Q3 of 2022
• Projects used the crypto winter to build and improve their products and services

DeFi Continues to Attract More Users

DeFi, or Decentralised finance, remains big, though not with the same numbers as seen a year ago. In 2021, user numbers skyrocketed 545% as cryptocurrencies boomed on the back of a staggering bull run. While DeFi statistics for 2022 show a decline in user growth amid the year-long crypto winter, the sector still witnessed a 31% increase in users quarter on quarter. Latest estimates for total DeFi users suggest the number will surpass 5.5 million in Q4, 2022.

DeFi is Creating its Own Blue Ocean Market

As HashKey Capital analysts highlighted in their recent report, DeFi is not just eating into the traditional finance, or TradFi market, but it’s also curving its own new market. The trend relates to what is a „blue ocean market,“ the report noted, with the DeFi sector’s new and innovative services capturing demand that’s adding to the steady growth in users.

Total Value Locked (TVL) Below $40 Billion

A drop in total value locked (TVL) – it is now below $40 billion as per DeFiLlama – still doesn’t tell the whole story of decentralised finance in the past one year. Overall, user wallets across DeFi segments such as decentralised exchanges (DEXs), lending, collateralized debt positions (CDPs), bridges, staking and yield, surpassed 5 million in the third quarter of 2022. It is estimated that DeFi users will number more than 5.5 million by end Q4 2022 with an 8% growth projection during this period

Projects Use Crypto Winter to Build & Improve

Market prices show that most assets have plummeted in value and that overall Defi index has shrunk by 76%, compared with 65% decline for Ethereum but despite this projects have used this crypto winter to build and improve their products thus attracting more users.

Conclusion

In conclusion it can be said that although there has been a drop from 2021’s astronomical figures there is still steady growth being seen within the decentralized finance sector with user numbers expected to exceed 5.5 million by Q4 of 2022