onchain-analytics-guide

name	onchain-analytics-guide
description	Guide to on-chain analytics — wallet tracking, whale watching, TVL analysis, DEX volume, token flow analysis, and governance activity. Use when helping users analyze on-chain data, track wallets, evaluate protocols, or identify trends.
metadata	{"openclaw":{"emoji":"🔍"}}

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