A new snapshot of blockchain user bases shows just how uneven crypto adoption really is — and the findings put two networks far ahead of the rest.
Rather than looking at price action or trading volume, researchers examined something more fundamental: how many unique addresses exist on each chain.
Key Takeaways
Ethereum and BNB lead the industry in wallet counts.
Mid-tier networks like Tron, Solana and TON trail far behind.
Polygon showed one of the fastest growth rates among major networks.
This metric is often used as a rough stand-in for network participation, and this month’s list leaves little ambiguity about where most users are settling.
Two Networks Tower Over the Market
Ethereum remains the biggest ecosystem in terms of wallet creation, but barely. Its long-held lead sits at just over 273 million addresses, only slightly ahead of BNB Chain, which has accumulated roughly 272 million. What makes the picture intriguing is not just the closeness, but their differing trajectories — Ethereum grew modestly, while BNB posted one of the highest expansion rates among major chains.
A significant drop separates those two giants from the next tier.
Tron comfortably holds third place, followed by Solana, which continues to build momentum thanks to an uptick in developer activity and rising popularity in payments and DeFi niches.
Not far behind, TON, backed by Telegram’s reach, has carved out a user base exceeding 140 million wallets, a sign that messaging-native ecosystems are gaining staying power.
Smaller Chains Quietly Expand Their Reach
Further down, the picture becomes even more diverse. NEAR and Polygon are emerging as sleeper contenders, with Polygon in particular scoring one of the strongest month-to-month gains — a sign that the network is benefiting from renewed scaling demand.
In contrast, Bitcoin — the original crypto network — holds a surprisingly lower address count, reflecting the fact that its role has evolved toward value storage rather than user-centric application deployment.
In the lower tier, Aptos, Mythos, Stellar, Celo, Hedera and newer platforms like peaq and Plasma continue expanding, though at smaller absolute scales. Their growth reflects a slow-burning trend where niche ecosystems accumulate communities over time rather than exploding overnight.
What the Numbers Tell Us About the Market
The rankings reveal two dynamics at work. First, network effects are real — early ecosystems benefit from compounding adoption advantages, keeping Ethereum and BNB far ahead of the pack. Second, rapid growth is migrating elsewhere, with Polygon posting one of the highest monthly increases and newer chains quietly adding users beneath the surface.
The takeaway is that crypto’s top tiers are surprisingly stable, but the race beneath them is anything but — and the story of who climbs next may depend on how well emerging platforms convert hype into lasting user bases.
