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Record-Breaking Q1 For Polkadot: Daily Active Addresses Hit 514,000 As DOT Price Surges 7%

According to a Messari report, the Polkadot (DOT) blockchain protocol made significant progress in the first quarter (Q1) of the year in terms of market capitalization, revenue, and Cross-Consensus Message Format (XCM) activity, as well as a record increase in daily active addresses.

DOT’s Market Cap Surges 16% QoQ

During Q4 2023, Polkadot’s market capitalization experienced a notable 111% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase, reaching $8.4 billion. Building on this momentum, Q1 2024 witnessed a further 16% QoQ rise, elevating the circulating market cap to $12.7 billion. 

Despite these gains, DOT’s market capitalization remains 80% below its all-time high of $55.5 billion, set on November 8, 2021. 

Polkadot

In Q4 2023, Polkadot’s revenue also skyrocketed by 2,880% QoQ, amounting to $2.8 million. Per the report, this surge was primarily attributed to an exponential increase in extrinsics, driven by the Polkadot Inscriptions. 

However, revenue metrics for Q1 2024 declined significantly on a QoQ basis, with revenue in USD dropping by 91% to $241,000 and revenue in DOT decreasing by 92% to 28,800. It is worth noting that Polkadot’s revenue tends to be relatively lower compared to its competitors due to the network’s structural design.

Polkadot’s XCM activity continued to show growth in Q1 2024. Daily XCM transfers surged by 89% QoQ to reach 2,700, while non-asset transfer use cases, known as “XCM other,” witnessed a 214% QoQ increase, averaging 185 daily transfers. 

The total number of daily XCM messages grew 94% QoQ to 2,800, demonstrating the network’s dynamic ecosystem. In addition, the number of active XCM channels grew 13% QoQ to a total of 230.

Polkadot’s Parachain Network Soars To New Heights

Q1 2024 marked a significant kick-off to the year for Polkadot’s parachains, with active addresses reaching an all-time high of 514,000, representing a substantial 48% QoQ growth. 

Moonbeam emerged as the leading parachain with 217,000 monthly active addresses, a solid 110% QoQ increase. Nodle followed closely with 54,000 monthly active addresses, doubling from the previous quarter. 

Polkadot

Astar on the other hand, experienced a modest 8% QoQ growth to reach 26,000 active addresses, while Bifrost Finance grew slightly by 2% QoQ to 10,000 addresses. However, Acala experienced a decline, with monthly active addresses falling to 13,000, down 16% QoQ.

Notably, the Manta Network stood out among parachains in Q1 2024, with a significant surge in daily active addresses, reaching 15,000. According to Messari, this increase was fueled by the successful launch of the MANTA token TGE and subsequent listing on Binance, propelling Manta’s Total Value Locked (TVL) to over $440 million. 

Polkadot Price Sees Upside Potential Ahead

In terms of price action, Polkadot’s native token DOT has regained bullish momentum following a sharp drop to the $5.8 price mark after reaching a yearly high of $11 on March 14. 

Currently, DOT has regained the $7.25 level, up 7% over the past week. However, DOT’s trading volume decreased slightly by 4.7% compared to the previous trading session, amounting to $320 million over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.

Polkadot

If the bullish momentum persists, Polkadot faces its first resistance at the $7.4 zone, which serves as the last threshold before a potential retest of the $8 resistance wall. 

On the other hand, the $6.4 support floor has proven to be successful after being tested for two consecutive days this week, highlighting its significance as a key level to watch for the token’s upward movement prospects.

Featured image from Shuttestock, chart from TradingView.com

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Polkadot (DOT) Circulating Market Cap Rockets To $8.3 Billion, Registers Massive 111% Growth

Polkadot, the computing platform known for its interoperability and scalability, has shown remarkable growth in key metrics during the latter part of 2023, as outlined in a recent report by Messari. 

Outpacing Crypto Market Growth

According to Messari’s findings, Polkadot’s circulating market cap experienced a remarkable 111% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth, reaching an impressive $8.38 billion. 

This growth outpaced the overall crypto market’s growth of 54% during the same period. Furthermore, Polkadot’s year-on-year (YoY) change reached 94%, solidifying its position among the top 15 crypto projects by market capitalization.

Polkadot

In terms of revenue, Polkadot witnessed a substantial surge of 2,880% QoQ, generating $2.8 million in Q4 2023. This surge was primarily attributed to the significant rise in extrinsic, driven by the introduction of Polkadot Inscriptions. 

Messari suggests that even excluding the four-day spike from the Inscriptions, Polkadot’s revenue would have doubled from the previous quarter. It is worth noting that Polkadot’s revenue tends to be relatively lower compared to its competitors due to the structural design of its network.

Polkadot Witnesses Significant Increase In Active Addresses

Following the launch of OpenGov – the governance module and framework within the network – in June, the Polkadot Relay Chain experienced a surge in account activity, largely due to increased governance participation. 

Because the Relay Chain is critical in facilitating governance processes, it experienced a spike in active addresses on October 24, when users claimed their locked DOT tokens from the first batch of parachain auctions held two years earlier.

Polkadot

Throughout Q4, the Polkadot Relay Chain averaged over 10,000 daily active addresses, representing a substantial 90% QoQ increase. Excluding the October 24th activity related to DOT token claiming, the average number of active addresses still saw a significant 70% rise in QoQ, reaching 9,000. 

Additionally, Cross-Chain Message (XCM) transfers on the platform increased by 150% QoQ, reaching an all-time high of 133,000. The total number of active XCM channels nearly tripled in 2023, reaching 203 by the end of the year.

According to Electric Capital’s rankings, Polkadot has 800 full-time and 2,100 total developers, making it one of the largest crypto ecosystems in developer participation.

DOT Price Shows Mixed Performance

Despite notable growth in key metrics demonstrating the network’s expansion, the price of Polkadot’s native token, DOT, has not followed suit and has even experienced declines over longer time frames despite positive developments.

Currently, DOT is trading at $6.7420, representing a slight 0.3% price increase in the past twenty-four hours, coupled with a 9% year-to-date gain.

However, over the past fourteen and thirty days, the token has recorded a 6% and 22% price drop, highlighting the absence of bullish momentum and catalysts that could propel DOT to higher levels.

Polkadot

Although it reached a 19-month high of $9.5711 on December 26, the subsequent price drop has led DOT to a critical juncture, potentially erasing its gains over the past year.

If the current level and its nearest support at $6.3229 fail to halt further price declines, DOT could potentially drop to the $5.4830 level, which serves as the next major support in the token’s 1-day chart.

Conversely, if DOT surpasses its upper resistance at $7.0392, the next objective would be to break the short-term downtrend structure, facing the $7.5332 resistance and another resistance at $8.1631. This would pave the way for another consolidation phase at its 19-month high.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

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Polkadot (DOT) Market Cap Dips: Q3 Sees 16% Decrease In Value

Polkadot (DOT), one of the prominent blockchain networks in the crypto space, experienced a 16% decline in market capitalization in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, according to a recent report from Messari. 

This decline came after a moderate downturn in the overall cryptocurrency market during Q3, despite favorable court rulings for XRP and Grayscale. The total crypto market capitalization declined by 5.8%, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) falling by 7.5% and 10.0%, respectively.

Polkadot Closes Q3 With $5.2 Billion Market Cap

As reported by Messari, Polkadot’s market capitalization closed at $5.2 billion, positioning it as the 13th largest crypto asset by market cap in Q3 2023 (currently 15th). 

Polkadot

Polkadot’s financial structure is based on a weight-based fee model, which differs from the gas-metering model in other networks, such as Ethereum.

Transaction fees in Polkadot are determined and charged before execution, with the calculation comprising a weight fee reflecting computational resources, a length fee based on transaction size, and an optional tip to incentivize block authors. 

In Q3 2023, Polkadot generated revenue amounting to $94,000, representing a 3% decrease compared to the previous quarter. Messari suggests that Polkadot’s revenue tends to be relatively lower compared to its competitors due to the network’s structural design.

On the other hand, the native token of Polkadot, DOT, serves three primary purposes: governance, staking, and parachain bonding. During Q3 2023, the staking percentage of DOT rose by 12% compared to the previous quarter, reaching 49%. 

This increase led to reduced staking rewards and a 12% decline in the annualized nominal yield to 15%. According to Messari, the close alignment of Polkadot’s staking rate with the ideal rate demonstrates the effectiveness of its mechanism.

Polkadot’s OpenGov Milestone

The Polkadot treasury supported various initiatives in Q3, including software development, bounties, client upgrades, and community events like meetups and hackerspaces. 

According to Messari, the implementation of OpenGov on June 15 marked a significant milestone, revolutionizing treasury management and enabling concurrent proposals with distinct requirements. At the end of the quarter, the Polkadot treasury held approximately 45 million DOT ($185 million).

Polkadot

Furthermore, Polkadot has recently completed the official release of Polkadot 1.0, marking the achievement of a significant milestone outlined in the Polkadot whitepaper. 

The network’s codebase has been fully transitioned to a repository managed by the community through Polkadot OpenGov and the Technical Fellowship. The roadmap for the next iteration, Polkadot 2.0, will be determined through community discussions and consensus. 

Founder Gavin Wood has proposed ideas for additional mechanisms to allocate Polkadot’s block space and for creating treaty-like agreements between multiple blockchains called “accords.”

Polkadot

As of this writing, the DOT token has exhibited a noteworthy upward trend since October 19, closely following Bitcoin’s lead. Presently, the token is trading at $4,839, reflecting a notable increase of over 16% within the past fourteen days.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com