Onchain Analytics Guide

On-Chain Analytics Guide

On-chain data is transparent and immutable. This guide teaches AI agents how to leverage it for better DeFi decisions.

Key On-Chain Metrics

Protocol Health

| Metric | What It Tells You | Where to Find | |--------|------------------|---------------| | TVL (Total Value Locked) | Protocol adoption and trust | DeFi Llama | | TVL Trend (30d) | Growing or shrinking? | DeFi Llama | | Unique Users (DAU) | Real adoption vs bot activity | Dune Analytics | | Revenue | Sustainable or dependent on emissions? | Token Terminal | | Protocol-owned Liquidity | Resilience to mercenary capital | On-chain |

Token Metrics

| Metric | What It Tells You | Source | |--------|------------------|--------| | Holder Count | Distribution breadth | Etherscan/Arbiscan | | Top Holders % | Concentration risk | Etherscan | | Transfer Volume | Real usage activity | Block explorer | | Exchange Inflow/Outflow | Sell pressure vs accumulation | Glassnode, Nansen |

DeFi-Specific

| Metric | What It Tells You | |--------|------------------| | Utilization Rate | Lending demand (Aave/Compound) | | Borrow APY vs Supply APY | Market's cost of leverage | | Liquidation Volume | Market stress indicator | | DEX Volume | Trading activity and fee generation |

Wallet Tracking

Why Track Wallets

• Whale watching: Large holders' moves signal confidence/concern
• Smart money: Track known profitable addresses
• Protocol treasuries: Monitor how teams spend funds
• Governance: Track voting power concentration

How to Track

| Tool | Features | Cost | |------|----------|------| | Etherscan/Arbiscan | Basic transaction history, token holdings | Free | | Arkham Intelligence | Wallet labeling, entity identification | Free tier + paid | | Nansen | Smart money tracking, portfolio analysis | Paid | | DeBank | Multi-chain portfolio view | Free | | Zapper | DeFi position tracking | Free |

What to Look For

Bullish Signals:

• Whales accumulating (moving tokens off exchanges)
• Increasing staking/locking (e.g., SPA → veSPA in Sperax)
• Protocol treasury diversifying into productive assets
• Growing number of unique holders

Bearish Signals:

• Large exchange inflows (potential sell pressure)
• Insider wallets unlocking and transferring
• Decreasing TVL despite stable token price
• Team wallet selling

Dune Analytics Queries

Dune lets you write SQL queries against on-chain data. Useful queries:

Protocol TVL Over Time

SELECT date_trunc('day', block_time) as day,
       SUM(amount_usd) as tvl
FROM protocol_deposits
WHERE protocol = 'sperax'
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1

Daily Active Users

SELECT date_trunc('day', block_time) as day,
       COUNT(DISTINCT sender) as unique_users
FROM transactions
WHERE to = '0x...' -- protocol contract
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1

Top Token Holders

SELECT address,
       balance,
       balance * 100.0 / total_supply as pct_supply
FROM token_balances
WHERE token = '0x...'
ORDER BY balance DESC
LIMIT 20

DeFi Llama

DeFi Llama is the standard for TVL and yield data:

Key Pages

| Page | URL | Use For | |------|-----|---------| | TVL Rankings | defillama.com | Compare protocol adoption | | Chain TVL | defillama.com/chains | Compare L1/L2 ecosystems | | Yields | defillama.com/yields | Find best yield opportunities | | Stablecoins | defillama.com/stablecoins | Track stablecoin market |

API Examples

# Top protocols by TVL
GET https://api.llama.fi/protocols

# Historical TVL for a protocol
GET https://api.llama.fi/protocol/{slug}

# Yield pools
GET https://yields.llama.fi/pools

Analysis Frameworks

Protocol Evaluation

1. TVL: Is it growing? (Healthy = steady growth)
2. Revenue: Does the protocol earn real fees?
3. Users: DAU trend (bots vs real users)
4. Token price vs TVL: P/TVL ratio (similar to P/E in tradfi)
5. Governance activity: Are holders engaged?

Token Evaluation

1. Supply schedule: Inflation rate, unlock events
2. Distribution: Top 10 holders % (concentrated?)
3. Staking ratio: What % is locked/staked?
4. Exchange balance: Decreasing = bullish
5. Value accrual: Does the protocol direct value to token holders?

Example — SPA (Sperax):

• Value accrual: 30% of USDs yield + 100% fees → buyback-and-burn
• Staking: Lock SPA → veSPA for governance + weekly rewards
• Burns: Continuous supply reduction via buyback-and-burn

Agent Tips

1. Always cross-reference — use 2+ data sources for important decisions
2. Context matters — TVL dropping 10% during a market crash is normal, during a bull run is concerning
3. Check time frames — 24h data is noisy, 30d/90d trends are more reliable
4. Whale tracking is reactive — by the time you see a whale move, the market may have priced it in
5. DeFi Llama is your best friend — free, reliable, comprehensive

Links

• DeFi Llama: https://defillama.com
• Dune Analytics: https://dune.com
• Arbiscan: https://arbiscan.io
• Sperax (Arbitrum DeFi): https://app.sperax.io
• CoinGecko: https://coingecko.com

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Sperax
• Source: Sperax/sperax-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.