Key takeaways:
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Web3 -day -to -day activity lasts 24 million in Q2 2025, but the composition of the sector is moving.
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Defi led the transaction counts of 240 million weekly, yet Ethereum gas use is now led by RWA, DEPIN and AI.
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The coins of the smart contract platforms and produce that form the Defi and RWA tokens release the market, while the AI and DEPIN lag despite strong narratives.
Altcoins are more than just the speculation that bets on the coins outside of Bitcoin. In most cases, they represent – or aim to represent – specific activity sectors within the web3, a decentralized alternative to the Legacy Internet and its services.
State analysis and potential of the Altcoin market mean looking beyond prices. Basic indicators such as gas use, transaction counts, and unique active dompeters (UAW) contribute to gauge and adoption activity, while coin price performance shows whether the markets follow the onchain trends.
AI and Social Dapps get adopting
The UAW counts unique addresses that contact the DAPPs, which offers a proxy for the extent of adoption, although many purses each user and automatic activity can market results.
DAPPRADAR’S Q2 2025 Report Shows stable sunny purse activity around 24 million. But a move to the dominance of the sector is emerging. Crypto gaming remains the largest category, with more than 20% market sharing, even from Q1. Defi also slipped, falling from more than 26% to bottom 19%. In contrast, social and AI -related AIs get traction. The farcaster leads society almost 40,000 days — day uawWhile at AI, agent -based protocols such as the Virtuals Protocol (Virtual) stand, which attracts 1,900 weekly UAW.
Defi attracts big players
Transactions counts show how often smart contracts are already -triggered, but can be enlarged by bots or automation.
Defi’s transaction footprint is pointless. Its user base refused, however it still forms more than 240 million weekly transactions – more than any other web3 category. The activity associated with the exchange (may overlap with the defi) increases this dominance, with gaming gaming walking 100 million weekly transactions and the “other” category (excluding social but with AI) at 57 million.
The total amount locked (TVL) tells a stronger story. According to DeleteDefi TVL has reached $ 137 billion – up to 150% since January 2024, although it is still below $ 177 billion peak in late 2021. The difference between tvl increases and the fall of the UAW reflects a major theme of this crypto cycle: institutionalization. The capital focuses on fewer, larger wallets, which now includes funds. This trend is young, as the defi faces uncertainty in regulatory in many constituents. Although, though, institutions Are the water tries by providing liquidity to the allowable pools, lending against tokenized treasures from platforms such as Ondo Finance (Ondo) and Maple (Syrop), the latter is also known for cooperating with bank investment Cantor Fitzgerald.
Meanwhile, the automation level of protocol offered by Defi Services such as Lido (Lido) or Eigenlayer (Eigen) further captures purse activity, while the DeFI changes a wide layer of importance to large generation of harvest instead of retail participation.
Other cases of use are gased by gas
Transaction data only does not obtain the complete web3 picture. The use of Ethereum gas can show where economic and computational weight truly lies.
Glass node Data The DeFI has been announced, despite being the main sector of Ethereum, it now costs only 11% of its gas consumption. NFTs, who used a large part of gas back in 2022, now fell to 4%. The “Other” category, however, rose from about 25% in 2022 to more than 58% today. This category covers emerging areas such as real-world asset tokenization (RWA), decentralized physical infrastructure (Demin).
RWA, in particular, is often referred to as one of the most promising crypto sectors. Excludes stablecoins, total RWA value Surged From $ 15.8 billion to the start of 2024 to $ 25.4 billion today, estimated to be 346,250 tokenholders.
Related: How high is Ethereum price after $ 4K breaks? ETH analysts will weigh
Are the prices compliant with web3 narratives?
Asset prices rarely switch to lockstep with onchain activity. While the hype can drive short-term spikes, prolonged gains tend to align with sectors that deliver tangible utilities and adoption. Last year, it meant infrastructure and yield -focused projects that released narrative -driven plays.
Smart contract platform coins have posted the strongest acquisitions, with the top 10 to a weightless 142%on average, led by HBAR (+360%) and XLM (+334%). As the foundational layer of the web3, their price growth indicates investor’s confidence in the long-term development of the sector. Defi tokens are also a long way off, which averaged 77% yoy, with curve dao (CRV) up to 308% and pendle (pendle) up to 110%.
Top 10 RWA tokens gained 65%on average, driven by XDC (+237%) and OUSG (+137%). Top performers of depin, Jasmycoin (Jasmy) at +72%and Aethir (ATH) by +39%, inevitably the average of the sector from saving around +10%.
AI tokens have become clear laggards: the top 10 strict projects dedicated to AI dropped 25% yoy, with the bittensor (man) the only standout to +34%. Most gaming tokens have posted losses, with only supervision (Super) getting 750% in the last 12 months. Social tokens remain more than not in the crypto space, as top protocols are still lacking in indigenous properties.
In general, web3 investment remains concentrated in the mature sectors, driving the native currencies of the leading contract contract platforms. The tokens focused on the yield and RWA also delivered a solid return. In contrast, the sectors behind the most -iped narratives – AI, DEPIN, and Social – have not yet paid attention to significantly acquired tokens. As the adoption and more sectors deepen, the gap between narrative and performance may be narrow – but so far, the investor’s confidence is clearly rooted in the decentralized economic building blocks.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be done as legal or investment advice. The views, attitudes, and opinions expressed here are unique and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of the cointelegraph.
