Public Chain Market 2024 Review: Diversified Development and Data Fluctuation

The year 2024 is a milestone year for the cryptocurrency industry. The official approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, along with Bitcoin's price surpassing the $100,000 mark, signifies the gradual mainstream acceptance of crypto assets. Meanwhile, public chains remain the core competitive field of the entire crypto market.

This article provides a comprehensive review of the performance of 22 mainstream public chains in 2024, covering Layer 1 and Layer 2 projects, with a focus on metrics including TVL, token price, market capitalization, number of active addresses, and transaction volume.

Layer 1 projects' TVL average growth of 7 times, emerging public chains perform brilliantly

Overall, the analyzed public chain TVL increased by 117.7% in 2024. Among them, Layer 1 projects grew by an average of 707.69%, while Layer 2 projects grew by an average of 294.69%, excluding outliers (.

In the Layer 1 camp, Hyperliquid, TON, and Aptos have seen the most significant TVL growth, all exceeding 10 times. Since its launch, Hyperliquid's TVL has increased by 4407%, showing particularly outstanding performance.

However, there has also been a decline in the TVL of some public chains, with zkSync experiencing the largest drop of 41.25%. In addition, the TVL of Optimism, Fantom, Tron, and Polygon has also seen varying degrees of decline.

![Review of the performance of 22 mainstream public chains in 2024: Half of the data has declined, Hyperliquid ranks first in multiple data points])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-cf7e6ff932890ee53617e4c98a10066b.webp(

Daily active user data shows polarization

In terms of network activity, the number of daily active addresses for Hyperliquid, Sui, and TON has grown the most rapidly, with increases of 13381.48%, 3350.55%, and 2409.43%, respectively. Public chains such as Base, Aptos, and Solana have also achieved more than 10 times growth in their daily active data.

It is worth noting that among the 22 public chains, 9 have seen a decline in daily active user data. zkSync and StarkNet experienced the largest drop, exceeding 90%. The daily active levels of Near, Blast, Polygon, Avalanche, Cardano, Optimism, and Tron have also decreased.

By the end of the year, Solana has become the public chain with the largest number of users, with 4 million daily active addresses, and the highest single-day active addresses reached 8.8 million.

![Reviewing the 2024 performance of 22 mainstream public chains: Half of the data declined, Hyperliquid ranks first in multiple data points])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-b5cd2fcd40ae0b5fd4631c2da6a012d0.webp(

Trading Activity: Emerging Public Chains Perform Well, Some Established Public Chains Are Weak

In terms of daily transaction volume, Hyperliquid leads again, with an annual growth of about 248900%. The transaction volume of Taiko and Base also increased by more than 10 times.

In contrast, the trading activity of Avalanche) C-Chain( and zkSync has significantly decreased, with declines exceeding 90%. Especially zkSync, since the end of the airdrop, the on-chain trading volume has rapidly shrunk from millions daily to just over a hundred thousand transactions.

![Review of the 2024 Performance of 22 Mainstream Public Chains: Half of the Data Declines, Hyperliquid Ranks First in Multiple Data Points])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-59558c0c8b45205199dcbba022486f03.webp(

Token market performance is mixed.

In terms of token prices, half of the public chains have risen while the other half have fallen. The Hyperliquid token HYPE performed the best, with an increase of 1272.30% this year, making it the only public chain token to rise more than 10 times. The token prices of Sui, TON, Tron, and BNB Chain have also all increased by more than 1 time.

On the other hand, the tokens of StarkNet and Blast saw the largest declines, dropping by 75% and 65%, respectively.

In terms of market capitalization, Ethereum still holds the top position in the industry, with an annual growth of 49.28% to $409.4 billion. BNB and Solana rank second and third respectively.

![Review of the 2024 performance of 22 mainstream public chains: Half of the data declined, Hyperliquid ranks first in multiple data categories])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-8eade7b3c0de41fb4be1c04062a0a197.webp(

Analysis of Key Public Chain Performance

Solana is undoubtedly the most dazzling star of 2024, with significant growth in various metrics, user numbers rising to the top, TVL ranking moving up from fourth to second, and the MEME token craze playing an essential role.

Ethereum, as the industry leader, has shown stable overall performance, with a TVL increase of 127%. However, daily active users and trading volume have not changed much, possibly affected by the Layer 2 offloading.

Hyperliquid, as an emerging force, ranks among the top in various growth indicators, but there is still a gap in overall scale compared to leading public chains. The development potential in 2025 is enormous, but continuous data support is needed.

Sui is seen as a potential competitor to Solana, with impressive performance in 2024. TVL grew nearly 7 times, daily active users increased by 33.5 times, and the highest daily trading volume exceeded 300 million transactions, with the token's increase second only to Hyperliquid. It will be worth watching whether it can replicate Solana's explosive trajectory in 2025.

The Layer 2 track remains popular in 2024, but most projects perform poorly on-chain after airdrops. Base, as a project that has not yet issued tokens, performs the best, while Taiko, despite low popularity, has good on-chain data.

Overall, the public chain market in 2024 shows a diversified development trend, with emerging projects rising rapidly while traditional leading projects maintain their advantages. The number of users remains a key indicator for measuring the development of public chains and an important basis for investors to assess the prospects of projects.