Axelar & Satellite

• Axelar is a decentralized network and set of tools that facilitates seamless cross-chain communication by connecting dApp developers to numerous blockchain ecosystems, applications, and consumers.
• Proof-of-stake is the tried-and-true method that is utilized by Axelar, the same method that is employed by Ethereum 2.0, Cosmos, and a great number of other cryptocurrencies.
• Satellite is Axelar's native bridge that enables token transfers across many ecosystems. Currently, Satellite allows users to link to and from some of the most popular blockchains in crypto such as Ethereum, Avalanche, Osmosis, Binance, CosmosHub, etc.
• In terms of the Axelar network's security, the AXL token is the master key that unlocks the proof-of-stake consensus. This token will be used on the Axelar network as of September 27th, 2022. AXL also provides capabilities that other cross-chain networks do not, such as instant, any-to-any routing and one-time deposit addresses.

Methodology

• In this dashboard axelar.core.fact_transfers table is utilized for the majority of the information.
• The USD prices are taken from ethereum.core.fact_hourly_token_prices averaged over a day.
• Price information is not available for some tokens, to this end they’ve been excluded from the USD volume calculations.
• Paths are defined as the cross chain transfer of token in first blockchain to another blockchain, and are shown by [blockchain1] → [blockchain2]
• Overtime charts are available for both weekly and monthly intervals and can be set via the parameter above.
• Note that some charts are logarithmic.

Paths, Users, And Volume analysis

• Throughout this dashboard we found that the most popular path since the inception, has been terra→axelar. This popularity is both indicated by number of users, the transfer frequency, as well as USD volume.
• osmo→axelar and cosmos→axelar have also larger user base compared to other paths.

Total & Average Volume in Paths

The amount of USD volume that has been transferred from terra to axelar is significantly larger than any other path. In fact it makes up for more than 75% of total volume transferred so far.

Interestingly, INJ→Axelar has the highest average volume transferred. When we look at other metrics of this path, the number of users and number of transfers are small. This shows that a few users have made very large transfers over time.

Terra paths were very popular until the crash in May 2022.

Overtime View of Paths

One thing that catches the eye is that the satellite has been gaining popularity since Aug 2022. This is indicated by growth in both the average USD volume transfer and number of transfers and users.

User Activity On Paths

Most of the activity dates back before April 2022. However as mentioned before there has been signs of recovery over the past few months.

Kujira→ Axelar path has gained extra popularity in number of users transferring on this path.

In & Out Network Transfers

• From charts below we see that following the crash in may, the outward transfers were dominant. This changed direction in Aug and has gotten stronger since Sep 2022.
• Interestingly, More than 99% percent of USD volume transfer is into the network.
• The number of users conducting transfers on Satellite, has also been increasing. We’ll see more below when we look at tokens.
• Another useful information we found was that majority of users use only 1 or 2 different paths. And only a handful use more.

Token Based Analysis

• We can rank the popularity of tokens based on the multiple criteria (number of users, number of transactions, and volume) as follows:

  1. USD
  2. LUNA (not recently)
  3. USDC
  4. AXL
  5. WETH

• Where AXL token has the highest usage in transfers.

• USDC has been growing in popularity since Aug 2022, and has had steady and rising number of transfers and volume ever since.

Overtime View of Tokens

• With the decline of USD & LUNA tokens from Feb - May 2022, USDC, AXL and WETH has taken over. These aformentioned tokens have been gaining popularity over the past few months.
• Another interesting token getting popular is the XKI token.

More Paths, More Users ?!

On the left and right side are the data for the number of paths that have been used for transfers in the network and number new and active users transferring each day.

• We see that addition of paths can be correlated to the the rising trend in the number of new users and active users.
• The cumulative data shows that the Satellite bridge overall is doing well in terms of attracting users and keeping the old ones.
• Another important factor is the direct interconnectivity of networks that as we can see below is 1-2 for most and for popular networks its 8-10 on average.

Conclusion

• The Luna crash in May has greatly impacted the Axelar network mostly in terms of USD volume.
• The network has been on a fast path to recovery and its attracting new users and adding new paths to the sattelite bridge.
• USDC, AXL and WETH has been the back bone of this growth on the network. And they have higher number of paths to other chains.

\