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BeInCrypto takes a look at on-chain indicators for Ethereum (ETH), more specifically the total value locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) products and transactions on the Uniswap exchange.
The total value locked (TVL) in DeFi products (blue) has been steadily increasing since the beginning of March 2020. This makes sense intuitively since the ETH price (black) has been increasing throughout this period.
TVL has generally mirrored the price movement of ETH, with both reaching an all-time high on May 21.
However, while the ETH price hasn’t quite reached a new all-time high, TVL has already done so. Value locked broke through the previous all-time high at the end of August and proceeded to reach a new high on Oct 21, with $239 billion locked in DeFi products.
This shows that despite the temporary stagnation in the price of ETH, the interest in DeFi products has not waned. The growth is even more impressive when compared to that of the same period from last year.
Uniswap transactions
The number of transactions on the Uniswap exchange shows a completely different picture. Uniswap is one of the largest DeFi exchanges, and its transactions peaked during the May all-time high ETH price.
However, the reaction after the May-June drop has been the exact opposite compared to TVL.
The transaction count continued to fall until it reached a new yearly low in September. While the value has rebounded some since, it’s only around 100,000, considerably below the 250,000 highs of May.
ETH 2.0
On a slightly different note, the number of accounts with more than 32 ETH has been increasing since July.
This number is taken as the criteria since it’s the minimum amount required in order to become a validator for ETH 2.0.
This indicator is of greater significance when combined with the number of transactions on the ETH network.
The number of such transactions has been decreasing since the May all-time high and created a lower low in September — somewhat mirroring Uniswap transactions but at a more gradual rate.
This shows that ETH is mostly being used to stake, either in anticipation of ETH 2.0 or in the DeFi sector instead of for trading.
For BeInCrypto’s latest Bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here.