USDT Dethrones USDC On Polygon As Gaming And NFTs Skyrocket By Benzinga

Benzinga – Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) has become the leading stablecoin on the Polygon (CRYPTO: MATIC) network in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 with a $735 million market cap, surpassing USD Coin (CRYPTO: USDC).

Polygon’s Q1 performance showcased consistent financial metrics, a stabilized DeFi ecosystem, and thriving NFT (non-fungible token) and gaming sectors, an analysis by cryptocurrency intelligence firm Messari revealed.

Polygon experienced steady financial metrics throughout Q1 2023. Total network fees saw a 93% surge quarter-over-quarter, amounting to $11.85 million due to higher transaction fees.

Also Read: Coinbase Warns SEC – Don’t Mess With Crypto’s Big Dog

The platform’s account metrics experienced a slight reduction, averaging 400,000 daily active addresses and adding 22 million new addresses during the quarter.

DeFi Ecosystem Stability And DEX Dominance
The DeFi ecosystem on Polygon stabilized, concluding Q1 with a TVL of $1.2B.

Aave (CRYPTO: AAVE) dominated the lending protocol market, while Uniswap (CRYPTO: UNI) led DEX volume, responsible for 80% of the total volume.

Notably, USDT outperformed USDC, becoming the top stablecoin on Polygon with a $735 million market cap.

NFT Partnerships and Growth
NFTs remained a crucial focus for Polygon, with significant partnerships formed with companies like Mastercard (NYSE: MA), Shemaroo, PLAY! POP! GO!, Unstoppable Domains, and Rarible.

These collaborations contributed to the growth and expansion of the NFT space on the platform.

Gaming Sector Expansion
Gaming continued to be the main driver of network activity on Polygon.

Popular games like Planetix, SunflowerLand, Benji Bananas, and BoomLand Games fueled the platform’s 115,000 daily active gaming wallets and 40 million total gaming transactions throughout the quarter.

Developer Initiatives and Recognition
Polygon maintained robust developer activity, launching Polygon Labs at the Pit accelerator and earning a mention in the 2022 Developer Report by Electric Capital.

The platform’s developer ecosystem ranked among the top in the industry.

Decentralization, Staking, and Improvement Proposals
Polygon focused on decentralization and staking, with 3.8 billion MATIC worth $4.2 billion staked on the network. PIP-4, a proposal aiming to enhance validator self-regulation and transparency, suggested increasing the active validator set to 105.

We also witnessed the launch of the zkEVM Mainnet Beta, attracting notable partners such as Lens, Balancer, and The Graph.

Additionally, Polygon announced the spinoff of Polygon Avail to concentrate on data availability, aligning with Ethereum’s roadmap.

Polygon ID: A Self-Sovereign Identity Solution
Polygon ID, an open-source self-sovereign identity solution, was made publicly available.

The solution enables anyone to act as an issuer, verifier, or holder of a Web3 identity and has already been adopted by multiple development teams.

Next: UK Government’s New Tax Proposal Could Shake The Foundations Of DeFi And CeFi

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

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