Polkadot’s ecosystem recorded massive growth across major metrics during the first quarter of the year, according to a Messari report.

During this period, the market cap of Polkadot’s native DOT token rose to $12.7 billion from the $8.4 billion recorded in the last quarter of 2023.

Notably, this upswing correlates directly with a monumental 270% surge in DOT’s price to as high as $11.3 from the bear market low of under $4. However, the digital asset’s value has witnessed some corrections to $7.22 as of press time.

Thriving ecosystem

Polkadot’s ecosystem experienced a surge in daily active addresses, soaring to an all-time high of 514,000. This is a 48% increase quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and a 192% increase over six months.

The report noted that Moonbeam, an Ethereum-compatible network, retained its status as the largest parachain on Polkadot with 217,000 monthly active addresses.

On the other hand, Manta Network experienced the most significant surge among parachains, boasting 15,000 daily active addresses following the launch of its native token. This surge propelled the network’s Total Value Locked (TVL) to over $440 million.

Meanwhile, the Cross-Consensus Message Format (XCM), which facilitates communication between parachains, also saw substantial growth during the reporting period. Daily XCM transfers surged by 89% QoQ to reach 2,700, with non-asset transfer XCM rising by 214% to 185 daily messages. Consequently, total daily XCM messages reached 2,800, reflecting a 94% QoQ and 314% growth from Q3 2023.

Furthermore, active addresses on the Polkadot Relay Chain witnessed a notable surge, jumping by 64% year-on-year during the first quarter.

Looking ahead

Polkadot’s ecosystem is primed for greater success as the network pursues more strategic expansions and gains support from its community.

Recently, Gavin Wood, the network’s founder, unveiled plans for a Join-Accumulate Machine (JAM) upgrade to merge features from Ethereum and Polkadot. Additionally, blockchain’s recent move to incorporate USDT and USDC stablecoins into its Treasury is poised to fuel its growth trajectory.

Messari researcher Nicholas Garcia added:

“Looking ahead, the Polkadot community is poised to further shape Polkadot 2.0. The ongoing development of technologies like Agile Coretime, On-Demand Parachains, and Elastic Scaling will ensure further growth and innovation. These efforts, combined with the strategic expansions and the support from the community, forecast a promising year for Polkadot.”

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