Know When to Fold Them DApps–Ethereum Cedes Ground to EOS, TRON Due to Gambler Migration
January 30, 2019 by Paul de Havilland
DApps, or decentralized apps, have witnessed a seismic shift in usage patterns. They have also seen a movement away from Ethereum toward the TRON and EOS platforms. But are the figures misleading?
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TRON and EOS Surpass Ethereum
There was in excess of $7.5 billion USD worth of value transacted on the Ethereum platform for DApps last year, about half of all DApp transaction value on the three biggest platforms. Since its launch, EOS has gained control of around 50 percent of the volume and TRON usage continues to rise.
Ethereum has been squeezed out of prime position for decentralized app usage, now accounting for only six percent of US dollar volume. Most of that shift from Ethereum to EOS and TRON can be attributed to the emergence of gambling DApps and declining activity on decentralized exchanges. But are those figures accurate?
State of the DApps vs Dapp Radar
According to Dapp Radar, DApp volume on the three respective platforms measures EOS at 55 percent, TRON at 38, and Ethereum at a mere six percent. With decentralized exchange usage tumbling, gambling has risen immeasurably.
Some 70 percent of DApp activity on EOS is dedicated to gambling; whereas that figures exceeds 95 percent on TRON. Ethereum gambling DApps represent a mere two percent of total Ethereum app usage, despite the number of gambling DApps accounting for around half of all Ethereum-based decentralized applications.
Yet, State of the DApps paints an entirely different picture. While gambling volume has indeed surged, it remains third in DApp categories by number of transactions, behind exchanges and games. (Mercifully for Ethereum, its problem with CryptoKitty congestion appears to have dissipated.)
Dapp Radar has gambling dominating 24-hour dollar value volume, with user numbers somewhat mixed. State of the Dapps, however, reveals more nuanced metrics. While gambling value volume is prominent among the most used DApps, it by no means dominates to the extent shown on Dapp Radar. (State of the DApps does not show statistics for TRON, making a direct comparison difficult.)
So What’s Going On?
While it is clear that gambling applications are becoming more popular and EOS and TRON host most of the more active ones, the metrics are skewed somewhat by the nature of gambling DApp usage. As a high volume trading activity, gambling is bound to appear to be more active than it actually is.
Dapp Radar also displays stats in terms of unique addresses and not unique users. What that means is that decentralized apps have not tumbled into gambling dens to the extent we might think.
Have your say. Is the growing prominence of gambling DApps in relation to decentralized exchanges as significant as it first appears? And if so, is that a problem?
Images via Pixabay
