Crypto exchange Coinbase has unveiled a new metric dubbed the h-index to address distortions in tracking onchain adoption caused by airdrop-related activities.
Traditional network metrics such as total transactions or daily active addresses can be skewed by Sybil attacks and airdrop activities, Coinbase says. To address this issue, Coinbase proposes a new metric called the h-index, which balances the depth and breadth of onchain adoption. The h-index counts the number of addresses receiving transactions from at least that same number of unique sending addresses.
“In other words, an h-index of 100 means that 100 different receiving addresses had received transactions from at least 100 unique sending addresses over a given time frame.”
Coinbase
According to Coinbase’s findings, when h-index applied, Ethereum and Base networks exhibited the most widespread user activity for the week ending Jun 6, followed by Arbitrum and Polygon.
While acknowledging the metric’s imperfections, Coinbase believes the h-index can shed “new perspectives on comparative chain adoption by mitigating the outsized influences of Sybils and measuring growth more broadly.”
The crypto exchange noted though that challenges still remain, including differences in blockchain execution environments, which can affect transaction formats and data interpretation. Additionally, the influence of exchange or other smart contract wallets “could also distort numbers,” Coinbase admits.
