Explosive growth of Web3.0: The market scale has soared over the past decade, and the ecosystem has fully entered its golden age

1. The overall market has experienced a decade of rapid growth, leading the technology sector with a compound growth rate of nearly 50%

Web3.0, leveraging its core advantages such as decentralization, user sovereignty, and blockchain trustworthiness, has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in the digital economy. The global market size reached US$6.94 billion in 2026 and is expected to surpass US$176 billion by 2034, representing a growth of over 25 times in ten years. This growth rate far exceeds that of the traditional internet, cloud computing, and fintech sectors. The core driving forces behind this growth include the maturity of Layer 2 scaling, the continuous influx of institutional capital, the widespread adoption of Real-World Assets (RWA) on-chain, and the upgraded application experience brought about by the deep integration of AI and Web3.

From a structural perspective, DeFi, Web3 payments, blockchain gaming, digital identity, and enterprise-level applications have emerged as the five major growth engines. Among them, payments and financial infrastructure have seen the fastest growth, directly supporting the capital flow and user expansion of the entire ecosystem, laying the foundation for Web3 to transition from a niche geek community to mainstream commercial use.

II. Driven by the dual wheels of payment and DeFi, the scale of the financial ecosystem has surpassed the trillion threshold

Web3 financial infrastructure is experiencing explosive growth, becoming a core pillar of ecological expansion. The market size of Web3 payment solutions is projected to reach $18.78 billion in 2026 and is expected to increase to $174.57 billion by 2035. These solutions encompass scenarios such as stablecoin payments, cross-chain settlements, and on-chain merchant acquiring. Traditional payment giants and crypto-native platforms are accelerating their layouts, driving decentralized payments towards the mainstream.

The total value locked (TVL) of DeFi has surpassed $200 billion, with lending, liquidity staking, decentralized trading, and rehypothecation protocols becoming the main force. Leading protocols such as Uniswap, Aave, and Lido manage assets exceeding hundreds of billions of dollars, with institutions and traditional financial funds continuing to pour in. The scale of real assets such as tokenized treasury bonds and corporate bonds being listed on the blockchain is growing rapidly, marking DeFi's gradual transition from crypto-native finance to an open financial ecosystem.

III. Explosive growth in applications and users, with daily active users exceeding 20 million and a three-fold increase in three years

At the user and application levels, Web3 has achieved significant breakthroughs on a large scale. Globally, there are over 15,000 active Web3 applications (DApps), with daily active users exceeding 20 million, marking a 300% increase compared to 2024. The application scenarios have expanded from early crypto trading and NFT collection to diverse fields such as GameFi, SocialFi, creator economy, supply chain management, and digital identity.

Blockchain games, decentralized social networking, and content platforms have become the main drivers of user growth. Blockchain games such as Axie Infinity and The Sandbox have maintained a stable daily active user base of over one million. Enterprise-level DApps have been implemented in the manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and other fields, contributing over 60% of new users. The user structure has shifted from being dominated by cryptocurrency retail investors to a coexistence of ordinary internet users, enterprise users, and institutional participants. The threshold for using Web3 has been significantly lowered, and the experience is gradually approaching that of the traditional internet.

IV. Differentiation under high-speed growth: Infrastructure and compliant applications become mainstream

This round of outbreak presents obvious structural differentiation: infrastructure such as underlying public chains, Layer 2, cross-chain bridges, wallets, and payment protocols have garnered over 60% of capital attention; the growth rate of compliant and practical applications far exceeds that of speculative projects. Meanwhile, gradually clarifying regulations, institutional entry, and technological maturity are driving Web3 to shift from being "narrative-driven" to being "value and implementation-driven".

In the next decade, Web3.0 will expand at an annual growth rate of nearly 50%, with continuous expansion in payment, DeFi, and application ecosystems, and comprehensive penetration of users and scenarios. For the industry, focusing on compliance, deeply cultivating practical scenarios, and optimizing user experience will be the key to seizing the golden growth period of Web3.