Ethereum Leads Blockchains In User Retention

Ethereum has ranked first for on-chain user retention among all major blockchains, according to a new cohort study published by CoinGecko. Across 11 major blockchains, Ethereum recorded the highest on-chain user retention rate of 26.2% in CoinGecko's Q1 2025 to Q1 2026 cohort study. That means roughly 1 in 4 Ethereum users who were active in Q1 2025 were still transacting on the network a year later in Q1 2026.

BNB Chain Leads on Absolute Numbers

$BNB Chain followed in second place with a 20.5% retention rate, retaining over 1.49 million users in absolute terms, the highest absolute retained user count of any chain in the study. Despite Ethereum's superior retention rate, it does not top the leaderboard when measuring raw retained users. BNB Chain retained 1,494,233 users in absolute terms, followed by Solana at 1,394,873. Both blockchains are significantly ahead of Ethereum's 682,240 retained wallets.

Ronin (@Ronin_Network), the gaming-focused blockchain behind Axie Infinity and Pixels, placed third at 19.1%, a notable result for a chain with a narrower use case, likely reflecting the habitual daily activity that on-chain gaming creates.

Methodology and Context

CoinGecko's methodology tracked wallets that completed at least five successful transactions during Q1 2025, then checked whether those same wallets were still transacting in Q1 2026. That filter is designed to capture genuinely engaged users rather than one-off participants, making the retention figures a more meaningful measure of network stickiness.

Solana appears to have a low user retention rate at 7.9%, losing more than 16 million users in a year. However, this can be explained by the comparison period of Q1 2025, when memecoins were at their peak, making it an unfair comparison. Tron was excluded after data validation confirmed that top addresses exhibited automated transaction patterns inconsistent with human wallet activity, with individual addresses recording over 10 million transactions per quarter. Including Tron would measure infrastructure uptime rather than user retention.

The findings point to a clear split between retention rate and raw scale. Ethereum's long-established user base and deep DeFi ecosystem appear to keep a higher share of users engaged year over year, while @BNBCHAIN and Solana attract larger absolute audiences, even if those audiences churn at a faster rate.

Sources
CoinGecko: Blockchain User Retention Rate Analysis, Q1 2026
Crypto Briefing: Ethereum leads blockchain user retention at 26% in Q1 2026 study