According to a report by Blockworks, since January 2022, over 637 million Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible smart contracts have been deployed on seven different blockchains. While BNB Chain and Polygon initially led in total deployments, Optimism later took the lead, accounting for over two-thirds of deployments in 2024.
Blockchain data analysis platform Flipside Crypto pointed out in a report that as scaling solutions become more efficient and user-friendly, the direct deployment of EVM contracts on the Ethereum chain is decreasing. After the Ethereum Dencun upgrade, this trend is likely to accelerate.
Carlos Mercado, a data scientist at Flipside Crypto, stated in an interview with Blockworks that the deployment of EVM contracts on Polygon and BSC led from January 2022 to August 2023, but Optimism has far surpassed other EVM compatible chains this year. Since January 1, 2024, Optimism has recorded 28.8 million deployments, accounting for approximately 70% of total deployments observed on the seven chains.
Source:
Flipside
DeFi contract growth, NFT contract percentage decline
Flipside data also shows that smart contracts related to decentralized finance (DeFi) have been the most popular among developers on all chains this year, accounting for approximately 34.7% of all deployable contracts classified, higher than around 11.2% in 2022 and 2023.
In terms of contract types, NFT-related smart contracts that drove the bull markets in 2021 and 2022 have become less popular over time, with deployment rates dropping from 18.6% before 2024 to 8.2% this year. Flipside suggests that these data may indicate that DeFi will receive more attention in the upcoming bull market.
Source:
Flipside