The @solana DeFi ecosystem is making a comeback after facing setbacks in the past year, although challenges remain.

A data analysis of @DriftProtocol and @ZetaMarkets in 2023, using @flipsidecrypto for @MetricsDAO.

1/ Findings, live dashboard and full report below.

2/ Both platforms have had a sustained increase in program activity since the start of 2023, with Zeta M. having almost twice as many daily transactions than Drift V2 for most of the period.

However, despite their performance, we have observed two major disruptions.

3/ First disruption: Feb 25.

After a failed validator upgrade, the Solana network experienced severely downgraded performance and then downtime while being restarted.

However, we see activity spring back up as soon as the network recovered.

4/ Second disruption: Feb 11.

USDC depegged and Zeta M. decided to halt trading.

Interestingly, the activity appears to have shifted to @DriftProtocol and subsequently returned once trading resumed (officially) on March 17th.

5/ It is worth noting however, that based on the number of daily transactions executed per user and using a threshold of 200 transactions, most activity on both platforms originates from bots.

6/ Given the activity on each platform, it is remarkable that Drift V2 had over three times as many unique users as Zeta M. during the observed period.

Only 8% of the total users were common.

7/ Drift V2 is experiencing a consistent increase in daily active users and currently maintains a 7d average of 187.

Conversely, Zeta M. suffered a significant decrease in daily active users following the trade halt in early February, and currently has a 7d average of only 25.

8/ Furthermore, Drift V2 has shown better retention rates over a six-week period and has consistently maintained this trend since the beginning of the year.

9/ Exploring user crossover, we first notice how many wallets have interacted with dapps and use cases beyond trading.

A noteworthy crossover is that 36% of Zeta M. users have also used Drift V2, while Zeta M. does not rank within the top 10 crossovers for Drift V2 users.

10/ Ok, that's long enough, but not the end of it.

Explore the live @flipsidecrypto dashboard here: flipsidecrypto.xyz/marqu/solana-perps-drift-v-2-zeta-markets-odMk9g

And read the full report published on @wordcel_club here: www.wordcelclub.com/marqu.sol/drift-v2-and-zeta-markets-analyzing-two-derivatives-trading-platforms-o...