The launch of Moonbeam Ignite, a liquidity incentive program, combined with the Upbit listing, catalyzed a 40% increase in Moonbeam's market capitalization by the end of the third quarter.
The Moonbeam-Acala XCM channel is Polkadot's top XCM channel, registering 9,500 messages. Beyond Polkadot, Moonbeam maintains cross-chain interactions with several other chains.
Moonbeam released Moonbeam Routed Liquidity (MRL), enabling other parachains to access bridge liquidity from other ecosystems and vice versa without requiring a Moonbeam account or direct interaction with Moonbeam.
Uniswap V3 debuted on Moonbeam in the final week of Q3.
Primer on Moonbeam
Moonbeam is an EVM-compatible smart contract platform for building cross-chain applications on Polkadot. As a parachain within the Polkadot ecosystem, it utilizes the security mechanisms of the Polkadot Relay Chain and integrates with other parachains.
Moonbeam offers an EVM implementation and a Web3-compatible API, enabling developers to deploy Solidity smart contracts and application interfaces with limited modifications. Furthermore, Moonbeam incorporates features like on-chain governance, staking, and advanced cross-chain integration capabilities.
Key Metrics
Financial Overview
Market Capitalization
In Q3 2023, even with favorable court outcomes for XRP and Grayscale, the crypto market largely remained static. Moonbeam mirrored this trend until a notable 40% increase in the last week. This rise in Moonbeam's market capitalization resulted from the rollout of Moonbeam Ignite, a liquidity incentive program for protocols in the Moonbeam ecosystem. As the third quarter concluded, Moonbeam's circulating market capitalization reached $176 million, ranking it approximately as the 175th largest crypto protocol based on market capitalization.
Revenue
During the second quarter, Moonbeam experienced a revenue surge due to runtime 2302 and a Xen Crypto deployment. However, in the third quarter, there was a marked 46% QoQ decrease in revenue, dropping from $160K to $87K. This placed the third quarter's revenue in alignment with Moonbeam's historical averages.
GLMR Token
GLMR is the native token of the Moonbeam network. It serves multiple functions, such as rewarding collators, enabling on-chain governance, and paying for network transaction fees. The token experiences an annual inflation of 5% with no maximum supply. Of the transaction fees generated on the Moonbeam network, 80% are burned, with the remaining 20% directed to the network's Treasury. The proportion of GLMR staked has consistently risen over several quarters, culminating in 36% of its total supply being staked by the end of Q3. In the third quarter, Moonbeam introduced a vote delegation feature.
Network Overview
Usage
In the first quarter of 2023, Moonbeam experienced a surge in address activity. However, over the subsequent two quarters, this activity declined, settling back to levels observed around the same period in 2022. On the other hand, Moonbeam's transactions witnessed a 43% rise QoQ. This uptick in transactions towards the quarter's end was, predictably, influenced by the announcement of Moonbeam Ignite.
According to Electric Capital’s Developer Report, Polkadot has the second largest developer base in crypto. Within the Polkadot ecosystem, Moonbeam has the largest developer base, with over 200 registered developers in Q3’23.
XCM
The Cross-Consensus Message Format (XCM) standardizes messaging for communication between parachains and other consensus-driven systems, enabling asset transfers, operations, and more. XCM V3, launched on June 15, brings advanced programmability, bridging with external networks, cross-chain locking, enhanced fee payments, and NFT support.
Moonbeam ranks high in XCM activity among parachains. The Moonbeam-Acala channel stands out as the most utilized XCM channel. In the third quarter, Moonbeam unveiled new XCM integrations with Centrifuge, Nodle, and Origin Trail.
In Q3, Moonbeam introduced Moonbeam Routed Liquidity (MRL). This allows parachains to tap into bridge liquidity from ecosystems, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and Avalanche, without the need for a Moonbeam account or its direct involvement. HydraDX was the inaugural parachain to utilize MRL, facilitating the cross-chain transfer of Wormhole-based tokens and streamlining liquidity movements from Ethereum to HydraDX through Moonbeam. To date, Ethereum has routed $6.1 million in liquidity to HydraDX via MRL. Additionally, the Interlay parachain has integrated Moonbeam Routed Liquidity.
Ecosystem Overview
Total Value Locked
Over the last year, Moonbeam's DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL) in USD has remained relatively stable, but the TVL in GLMR has consistently risen. By the close of the third quarter, Moonbeam recorded a TVL of $53 million, positioning it approximately 30th among chains.
Moonwell, a lending protocol, is the largest by TVL within Moonbeam. It concluded Q3 with a TVL of $42 million, representing 79% of Moonbeam's cumulative $53 million TVL. Following Moonwell, StellaSwap and Prime Protocol are the next largest protocols in terms of TVL, securing $3.8 million and $3.5 million, respectively. For the third quarter, Moonbeam's DeFi Diversity score stood at three.
Worthy of mention is the launch of Uniswap V3 on Moonbeam in the final week of the third quarter.
Stablecoins
By the end of the third quarter, Moonbeam's stablecoin market capitalization was $8 million, ranking it 40th among chains. Native-Frax had a market capitalization of $5 million, accounting for 70% of Moonbeam's total stablecoin market capitalization. In Q3, Polkadot introduced native USDC support, which could boost USDC's presence as Moonbeam develops markets in-support. Importantly, a sharp decline in Moonbeam's stablecoin market capitalization occurred in late August of 2022 due to a Nomad exploit.
Closing Summary
In Q3 2023, Moonbeam displayed resilience amidst an unpredictable crypto market, marking a pronounced surge in market capitalization during the quarter's final week. The quarter saw a blend of outcomes for Moonbeam: while metrics such as revenue and TVL witnessed QoQ declines, others like transactions and the percentage of supply staked presented growth. Although there was a slight dip in total XCM messages, Moonbeam retains its status as a leading parachain in this important category.
Looking to the future, Moonbeam is aiming to bolster its network activity through Moonbeam Ignite. In the broader scope, Moonbeam remains a dominant parachain within the Polkadot ecosystem, but faces immense competition against external competitors.
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