Despite the uncertainty surrounding the cryptocurrency market, a new report by BitcoinCasinos.com shows that DeFi users increased by 35 per cent in January, surpassing over six million users.

“The number of DeFi users jumped by 35 per cent year-over-year and hit over 6.7 million in January,” the report said.

Using blockchain-based smart contracts, DeFI provides financial instruments without using middlemen like banks, brokerages, or exchanges.

The report, obtained on Monday, noted that the DeFI technology has continued to gain wider acceptance, with the number of users rising by 281 per cent between 2021 and 2022.

There were fewer than 110,000 DeFi subscribers just three years ago, according to Dune Analytics data, which examined the number of unique addresses engaged in buying or selling particular projects connected to DeFi. This number increased by 1,100 per cent during the following 12 months to reach over 1.3 million people worldwide.

According to statistics, the number of users increased by a further 281 per cent between 2021 and 2022, reaching 4.96 million in January 2022. Over 1.8 million new users have joined the DeFi space since then, and the number has continued to rise.

The report detailed that despite the significant increase in the number of DeFi users in the past year, the total DeFi market cap, as determined by the quantity of cryptocurrency locked, is still significantly below the levels reached in 2021 and the first few months of 2022.

Data from Trading View indicates that in January of last year, the DeFi market cap was $113.4 billion. This amount increased to $166.4 billion three months later but then dropped to $51.8 billion in May and kept going down until the end of the year. 

According to statistics, the total amount of cryptocurrency locked in the DeFi market fell to a 2022 low of $29.9 billion in December. 

Although this figure increased by 50 per cent month over month to $44.8 billion in January, it still represents a staggering 60 per cent decrease from the same month last year.