State of MultiversX Q4 2024

Key Insights

• The MultiversX Foundation announced a $1.5 million grant under the Growth Games initiative to support developers in AI, AI agents, DeFi, and other sectors, incentivizing building on the MultiversX network.
• Fees (USD) increased by 85% QoQ to $167,300, reflecting higher transaction volume and EGLD price changes.
• Average daily decentralized exchange (DEX) volume rose 90% QoQ to $2.6 million, with xExchange accounting for approximately 85% of total DEX volume.
• Average daily transactions on MultiversX increased by 65% QoQ to 377,900. Additionally, average daily active addresses increased by 200% QoQ to 78,500.
• MultiversX Foundation launched an updated strategic roadmap, focusing on sub-second finality, launching Sovereign Chains, developer tooling, ecosystem development, capital market integration, and high-impact marketing.

Primer

MultiversX (EGLD), formerly known as Elrond, is a blockchain platform that aims to provide a highly scalable, fast, and secure blockchain network for distributed apps, enterprise use cases, and the new internet economy. The platform is operated by MultiversX Labs S.R.L., a company incorporated in Romania in May 2018, with operations in St. Julians, Malta.

MultiversX powers its network through Proof-of-Stake (PoS), adaptive state sharding, and a WASM-based virtual machine. The foundation has partnered with Coinbase, DefiLlama, Alchemy, AWS, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and many other tech leaders to help these companies' infrastructure. MultiversX has a mature ecosystem of core services, products, and primitives spanning onchain finance, gaming, NFTs, and payments.

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Key MetricsFinancial Analysis

In Q4, market capitalization rose 23% QoQ to $926.8 million, and the price of EGLD rose 22% QoQ to $33.4. The market cap rank decreased from 88 to 103. The market cap of all L1s increased by 50% in Q4, according to CoinGecko. The total market cap of the crypto market increased by 46% QoQ from 2.3 trillion to 3.4 trillion in Q4, and the total market cap for coins other than BTC decreased by 5% QoQ. In aggregate, BTC outperformed small-cap cryptocurrencies this past quarter. BTC dominance concurrently increased by 1% QoQ to 55%.

MultiversX earns fees through gas and tips (priority fees) spent on network transactions. MultiversX’s fees increased by 85% QoQ to $167,300. Fees denominated in EGLD were up 54% to 4,700 EGLD. The revenue increase can be attributed to increased network activity and token price.

Developer rewards are a unique feature of the MultiversX ecosystem. Developers receive 30% off gas fees whenever someone calls their smart contract. Developer rewards were down 25% QoQ to $9,600. When denominated in EGLD, rewards increased by 54% QoQ to 494 EGLD.

EGLD’s average daily nominal yield was 7.0% in Q4, and annualized real yield decreased by 7% QoQ to 2.3% in Q4. By the end of Q4, 56% of all eligible EGLD was being staked, down 8% from Q2. The yield is up 26% YoY due to the decrease in eligible EGLD tokens staked.

The circulating supply of EGLD tokens increased by 1% QoQ, which unlocked 257,000 tokens. 93% of the total token supply is unlocked as of Q4. Annualized inflation decreased by 7% QoQ to 4.6%. The sum of the transaction fees offsets EGLD inflation, meaning fewer tokens get minted; consequently, Q4’s fees offset approximately 7,000 EGLD from being minted. Inflation is down 1% YoY due to increased network activity and transaction fees.

Network AnalysisUsage

In Q4, average daily transactions increased by 65% QoQ to 377,900, and average daily active addresses increased by 200% QoQ to 78,500. Transactions and active addresses spiked on December 12 following AI Nexus's $A1X token listing. AI Nexus is an AI gaming and metaverse app launched on xLaunchpad, the MultiversX-focused accelerator. Even without the spike, transactions and active addresses on MultiversX were still up 52% and 91%, respectively, in Q4, marking an active quarter for the network.

The eStandard Digital Token (ESDT) is MultiversX's native token standard, enabling fast, cost-efficient transactions without smart contracts. It supports fungible, semi-fungible, and non-fungible tokens at the protocol level, with sharding and direct balance storage under user accounts. Throughout Q4, 854 new tokens were created in Q4, a 312% increase QoQ. Of these tokens, 72 were Meta ESDTs, which are regular ESDT fungible tokens with properties similar to the new token extensions on Solana. XMEX, the time-locked equivalent of the xExchange token MEX, is an example of a Meta ESDT.

MultiversX also natively supports NFTs by adding metadata and attributes to the fungible ESDT. MultiversX’s NFTs can be broken down into non-fungible and semi-fungible (SFTs). Meta ESDTs are a subset of the semi-fungible tokens. The difference is that SFTs will have a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), whereas a Meta ESDT will not. New NFTs and SFTs decreased by 41% QoQ to 142,500. The number of new SFTs alone increased by 335% to 51,700.

XOXNO is the leading NFT marketplace on MultiversX. XOXNO is known for its onchain ticketing product, which was used to attend xDay Munich.

Total EGLD staked decreased by 8% QoQ to 15.4 million, while total EGLD staked denominated in USD rose by 12% QoQ to $514.2 million. This was mainly due to token price appreciation. Total staked EGLD dropped by 12% YoY.

At the end of Q4, MultiversX had over 100,000 addresses staking to over 3,200 different validators. According to MultiversX, 59% of validators were hosted in Europe, followed by North America at 34%.

Spica Upgrade

The Spica upgrade passed on August 18, marking the first major proposal since the Vega upgrade in April 2024. Due to a few interim patches, Spica was activated on November 12. Key updates include:

• Relayed Transaction V3, improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness for apps that operate on gas sponsorship models.
• ESDT enhancements enable dynamic NFTs and expanded configuration options.
• EGLD support in MultiESDT Transfer transactions, which makes wEGLD (wrapped) unnecessary in most transaction types. This aims to improve the DeFi UX.
• New crypto API and opcodes are adding developer-friendly features like signature verification.

MultiversX released Patch 1 (v1.8.6) for the Spica upgrade to address transaction delays caused by EGLD price fluctuations and an inefficient selection model. The update revises the transaction selection mechanism, prioritizing transactions based on their price per gas unit. Non-executable transactions are excluded, and the mempool now directly queries the blockchain state to detect nonce gaps, enhancing processing efficiency.

Sub Second Finality

A two-phase network upgrade called Supernova will enable sub-second finality. The upgrade aims to reduce block times from 6 seconds to 600 milliseconds and introduce parallel processing within shards. It’s planned for the first half of 2025 and is currently undergoing stabilization and bug testing.

The update involves a foundational redesign in architecture, separating consensus from execution processes. Supernova builds on sharding by allowing transactions within each shard to be processed more efficiently and maximize the hardware’s capacity. This will be done by running block proposers and verifiers in parallel, along with adjustments to block execution, equivalent proofs, early block proposals, and scheduled transactions.

Sharding is the backbone of MultiversX’s ability to scale, and future upgrades plan to enhance its sharded architecture. The finality improvements, faster block times, and parallel processing all rely on optimizing how shards operate individually and collectively.

Roadmap

In October, the team wrote a blog post clarifying different roles and responsibilities across MultiversX, as well as some project updates and long-term objectives.

Clarification of Roles and Structure:

• MultiversX Network: The decentralized blockchain infrastructure.
• MultiversX Foundation: Focuses on awareness and adoption, operating as a non-profit.
• MultiversX Labs: Develops core technology, incubates products, and operates for-profit.
• New Leadership: The Foundation seeks a well-connected President to drive ecosystem expansion.

Side Projects Review and Adjustments:

• xWorlds: Halted due to high costs and technology limitations; potential re-evaluation in the future.
• xFabric: Temporarily paused due to resource constraints; potential re-evaluation later.
• xExchange: Fully independent setup with new leadership; focus on 10x growth in volume, users, and value.
• xLaunchpad: Now self-sustaining, with a separate entity and leadership, targeting 3–5x growth in new startups and ecosystem expansion.
• xMoney: Undergoing restructuring with new leadership and a strategic investment round to optimize its payments infrastructure.
• xPortal: Ready for its first funding round, with a new independent setup focused on marketing, user growth, and revenue acceleration.
• xDay: Transitioning into a self-sustaining event, starting with xDay Global South Korea in 2025.

Additionally, The MultiversX Foundation established a 5-part general strategy for MultiversX.

1. Build a hyper-scalable blockchain - The goal is a scalable, fast, secure, and decentralized blockchain for mass adoption, targeting 100K TPS, sub-second finality, 99.99% availability, and $0.002 per transaction. Key drivers include sub-second finality, sovereign chains, and parallel execution for maximum efficiency.
2. Build a robust developer platform - The goal is to simplify the development of scalable and secure onchain products, targeting 1,000 monthly active builders. Key drivers include refining development tools for faster time to market, expanding educational resources such as tutorials and examples, and enhancing onboarding through xAlliance meetups and community programs.
3. Create a vibrant ecosystem of apps - The goal is to drive adoption by developing compelling applications for users and businesses, targeting 1 million monthly active addresses. Key drivers include performance-based incentives to attract builders, milestone-based support to help startups scale, and co-incubation with DeFi protocols and partners to foster innovation and growth.
4. Deep integration of capital markets - The goal is to establish MultiversX and EGLD as a core part of the multichain economy, targeting $1 billion in assets on-platform. Key drivers include incentive programs like Growth Games and the 5 Unicorns initiative, strategic bridge integrations with solutions such as Bridge V3, Axelar, and LayerZero, and integration of a native stablecoin to enhance liquidity and usability.
5. Develop maximum-impact marketing campaigns - The goal is to amplify MultiversX awareness and drive user adoption, targeting a 10x increase in awareness, adoption, developer engagement, and capital inflows. Key drivers include global awareness efforts through media campaigns and industry events, strategic partnerships with influencers and industry leaders, community activation via referral programs and viral growth strategies, and business development focused on key sectors and regions to drive enterprise adoption.

Ecosystem OverviewDeFi

MultiversX TVL denominated in USD increased 4% QoQ to $107.4 million in Q4. However, TVL denominated in EGLD decreased QoQ by 14% from 4.1 million to 3.5 million. This dynamic indicates that the TVL increase in USD was largely driven by EGLD price appreciation.

MultiversX had a DeFi Diversity (i.e., the number of protocols making up 90% of a network’s TVL) score of 2, with Hatom and xExchange leading in TVL.

• Hatom Protocol is the most popular lending platform on MultiversX. The platform also includes a liquid staking feature, allowing users to stake assets like EGLD and receive receipt tokens that maintain liquidity. Hatom led in TVL with $66.0 million, an 18% QoQ decrease. In Q4, Hatom represented 62% of MultiversX TVL, and its market share increased by 2% QoQ. Hatom also developed the TAO Bridge to enable interoperability between MultiversX and Bittensor.
• xExchange’s market share was by 29%, a 15% decrease in Q4, bringing its TVL to $31.4 million. AshSwap, the third largest dapp by TVL, held a 4% market share, equivalent to $5.0 million.

In Q4, MultiversX’s average daily DEX volume increased by 9% QoQ to $2.6 million. Of the DEXs on MultiversX, xExchange had the highest DEX volume on MultiversX, averaging $2.4 million daily, a 100% QoQ increase.

• xExchange is a DEX that was built by the MultiversX team. MEX is xExchange’s native token of the platform, which users can convert into xMEX through staking. xMEX is a locked version of MEX that grants various benefits, such as boosted rewards, revenue sharing, and launchpad allocations and governance. The longer xMEX remains staked, the more Energy it accumulates, which determines the extent of these benefits. xExchange held 84% of DEX volume market share, a 5% increase from last quarter.
• Ashswap is the second most popular DEX on MultiversX. Based on Curve Finance, Ashswap uses two stable-swap algorithms for pegged assets and concentrated liquidity with dynamic pegging for volatile assets. Ashswap is managed by AshDAO, which also operates the top perps DEX on MultiversX, AshPerp. Ashswap held 10% of the DEX volume market share, a 33% decrease QoQ.

MultiversX’s stablecoin market cap decreased by 8% QoQ to $13.0 million, ranking it 47th among all networks. On May 15, Hatom Labs announced its plans to launch USH, a MultiversX native, overcollateralized stablecoin. USH addresses the liquidity issues in the MultiversX ecosystem by introducing a native stablecoin with innovative minting methods. Users can mint USH through two facilitators: the Lending Protocol, offering fixed rates based on collateral, and Isolated Pools, where users deposit EGLD or sEGLD with no minting fees, leveraging Liquid Staking. USH's stability is maintained via two peg mechanisms.

1. A Soft Peg Mechanism that ensures USH is valued at $1 within the Lending Protocol regardless of market price.
2. A Hard Peg Mechanism activating Redemption Mode if USH trades significantly below $1, allowing users to seize collateral to restore the peg.

Hatom launched USH on devnet in November. USH is scheduled to launch on mainnet in March 2025.

Ecosystem GrowthAI Initiatives

As stated in the new roadmap, the MultiversX Foundation is prioritizing ecosystem development and integration into multichain capital markets. The Foundation has begun with the AI sector, recently attracting significant investor interest.

In December 2024, AI Nexus, an xLaunchpad-incubated startup, launched its TGE and announced a gaming and metaverse app. The platform allows users to generate immersive environments using AI-powered natural language processing. On December 12, AI Nexus released 50% of its token supply through a lottery ticket system, reaching 6,000 holders within 48 hours. The launch led to the highest network activity on MultiversX in 2024, with 3.2 million transactions and 2.6 million active wallets in a single day.

The MultiversX Foundation additionally introduced the Growth Games initiative in December to encourage and support AI application development on the network following AI Nexus’ success. As a part of this effort, MultiversX announced a $1.5 million Grant Program for AI, AI agents, DeFi, and other sectors, allocating $750,000 to new teams, $250,000 to existing teams, and up to $100,000 in advisory and support for five xLaunchpad projects.

Other Key Developments

Several other key developments and initiatives took place in Q4:

• EGLD on Bit2Me Card (October 1): EGLD can be used to make purchases on the Bit2Me Global Card.
• Adam Bates joins as CMO (October 15): Adam Bates, the former Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Cardano/IOHK, joined the MultiversX Foundation as CMO.
• MultiversX launches Bridging V3 (October 18): The new bridge introduces native interoperability. MultiversX announced “Battle of the Bridges” on MultiversX and BSC for community testing and bug bounties.
• NODO integrates with MultiversX (October 22): NODO is leveraging MultiversX’s network to increase transaction speed and reduce latency for NODO’s prediction market.
• MultiversX hosts Rust Bootcamp in Türkiye (November 7): The boot camp, organized with Patika.dev, is focused on reaching talent in countries with high crypto usage.
• MultiversX partners with Alibaba Cloud (November 15): MultiversX has partnered with Alibaba Cloud to offer infrastructure, hackathon opportunities, and credit grants for blockchain developers.
• Dr. Greg Siourounis joins xMoney as CEO (November 28): Siourounis, previously a managing director at the Sui Foundation, will lead xMoney's European stablecoin issuance operations.
• EGLD is added to the Coinbase 50 Index (December 2): The Coinbase 50 index is a market-cap weighted index used to track the performance of the broader crypto market and benchmark its returns.
• Pell Network integrates with MultiversX (December 23): Pell Network is a restaking layer with over 450,000 users and $385.3 million TVL as of December 31. Pell will allow users on MultiversX to retake their EGLD.

Closing Summary

In Q4 2024, the MultiversX network implemented key technical updates, most notably the Spica upgrade, which passed with 99% approval and introduced enhancements such as enabling dynamic NFTs and improved transaction efficiency. Network usage increased, with daily transactions up by 65% QoQ and active addresses rising by 200% QoQ, though some metrics like staking levels and fee revenues saw declines. MultiversX also saw a 23% QoQ rise in market capitalization and a 22%QoQ increase in the EGLD token price in Q4, supported by increased network activity.

MultiversX unveiled a new strategic roadmap focused on scalability, developer tooling, ecosystem growth, capital market integration, and high-impact marketing. The network also expanded its ecosystem development, noted AI Nexus’s launch and a $1.5 million grant program to foster application growth on the MultiversX network. This shift aligns with MultiversX’s broader vision of enhancing its blockchain infrastructure while positioning itself at the forefront of emerging technologies. As the network refines its core offerings and supports new types of applications, its ability to attract developers and users will be key to sustaining long-term growth.