Bulletpoints
• NFTs accounted for 28% of ETH gas usage in January
• Defi, ERC20 and stablecoins categories occupy 8%, 8%, and 6% respectively
• Categories include Vanilla, ERC20, Stablecoins, DeFi, Bridges, NFTs, MEV Bots, and others

In January of this year, CryptoSlate analysts examined the gas usage shares of different transaction categories on the Ethereum (ETH) network and found that the NFTs category accounted for 28% of the total ETH gas usage. The second, third, and fourth categories that occupied the most significant gas usage by share appeared as Defi, ERC20, and stablecoins, with 8% for Defi and ERC20 and 6% for stablecoins.

The analysis divides all transactions on the ETH network into eight categories: Vanilla, ERC20, Stablecoins, DeFi, Bridges, NFTs, MEV Bots, and others. The vanilla category includes pure ETH transfers between Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) issued without calling any contracts. The ERC20 class counts all transactions that call ERC20 contracts, excluding stablecoin transactions. The stablecoins category represents all fungible tokens that have their value pegged to an off-chain asset either by the issuer or by an algorithm. This category includes over 150 stablecoins, with Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), and DAI (DAI) being the most prominent ones.

The Defi category covers all on-chain financial instruments and protocols implemented as smart contracts. Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) also fall under this category. More than 90 Defi protocols are represented in the category, with the most prominent ones being Uniswap, Maker, Compound, and Aave. The bridges category encompasses all transactions related to the interoperability of Ethereum with other networks such as Bitcoin, Polkadot, Tron, and more.

The NFTs category includes all transactions coming from non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are digital assets that represent ownership over a unique item on a blockchain. These digital assets are used to represent items like art, tickets, and collectibles. The MEV Bots category includes transactions related to miner extractable value (MEV). MEV bots are automated algorithms that look for arbitrage opportunities and exploit them to generate profits. Finally, the other category includes all other transactions on the network.

In summary, the analysis revealed that NFTs accounted for 28% of the ETH gas usage in January. The Defi, ERC20, and stablecoins categories occupy the second, third, and fourth largest share with 8%, 8%, and 6%, respectively. Other categories like Vanilla, Bridges, MEV Bots, and others accounted for a smaller percentage of the total gas usage.