In an exciting development, Phantom, a San Fransisco-based cryptocurrency wallet used in the Solana ecosystem, has witnessed a significant rise in its user base over the past year.
Phantom’s User Base Reaches New Peak
The platform’s chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder, Brandon Millman, revealed the latest development in an interview with TechCrunch.
In the interview, Millman revealed that the number of active users of Phantom has tripled in the past year. Specifically, the platform reached over 3.2 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) in January 2024, a 220% rise from its 1 million MAUs in the previous year.
The network also saw a surge in installs from 167,000 to about 941,000 during the same period, indicating a rise of over 463%. This surge in monthly active users and installs marks a major milestone for the crypto platform, putting it in the spotlight.
Notably, Phantom was introduced as a Solana-only crypto wallet in January 2021. However, it has grown to accommodate other blockchains, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon. Milman stated:
We believe the future of wallets is multichain, just the way crypto exchanges have evolved. Coinbase started as a Bitcoin-only exchange, then added support for Ethereum, and one thing led to another. No one can fathom a world where exchanges only have one coin. Wallets will follow the same path.
The firm plans to increase its active users to become the go-to place for those new to cryptocurrency and wallets. Phantom generates revenue just as other major wallets by offering in-app features. Nonetheless, Millman asserted that this is not the company’s primary focus.
“The more users that sign up, the more developers are attracted to building on the ecosystem, and the more applications and users we get,” Millman stated. He added that the company aims to “grow as fast as possible” to achieve its goal.
Airdrops Making Most Of The Rise
According to Millman, Phantom’s rise in user base was due to several Solana-based airdrops in the past year. He further highlighted that previous airdrops like Jito (JTO) and Jupiter (JUP) served as a “turning point” for the ecosystem.
“Solana has reached escape velocity and proved itself to be a first-class ecosystem, attracting some of the best builders in the world,” Millman stated. According to Millman, these airdrops demonstrate the value of composability and the following surge of users.
Another factor underscored by the CEO is the growing activity in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector. Milman pointed out that airdrops offered by DeFi protocols are improving adoption, and cryptocurrency wallets are progressively serving as the main “point of entry” for new users in the crypto landscape.