On-chain analytics vs traditional metrics – what advertisers should track

While crypto advertising is changing fast, traditional Web2 metrics like clicks are losing ground to on-chain data that shows real user value and ROI. For years, traditional Web2 marketing has relied on cookies and centralized databases to track people’s identities. But decentralized technologies have broken these models. In a market where pseudonymity and data ownership are the norm, crypto advertisers can’t just know who clicked on their ad anymore. Clicks don’t cut it anymore. Blockchains provide verifiability that Web2 systems cannot.

This article talks about why old metrics in the crypto space are hitting a wall and how on-chain data analytics will help us see through the hype.

Traditional advertising metrics explained

When we do digital marketing the old-fashioned way, we usually use a linear funnel to track the customer’s journey. Impressions and CTR (click-through rate) are examples of advertising metrics that were first created to measure attention.

• Awareness metrics (impressions, CPM): Their goal was to find out if people had seen you at all. This was the way to brand things in the Web2 era.
• Engagement metrics (CTR, CPC): These numbers were meant to show the advertiser if their creative was interesting to the audience.
• Performance metrics (conversion rate, CPA): This is where the real business impact was measured, either by making a purchase or signing up.

The problem with these old marketing metrics is that they are too easy to change in the crypto market. If there isn’t any real on-chain liquidity behind a lot of social media impressions or followers, they will be worth nothing in 2026. In a world where bots are in charge, this data becomes vanity metrics, which are numbers that look good in reports but don’t really mean anything.

What on-chain analytics actually measure

On-chain data is public and immutable, with the added benefit of being verifiable in real time. Off-chain data is stored in private databases run by companies such as Meta or Google. With blockchain analytics, we can see right into the wallet of the ecosystem. Philip Gradwell, chief economist at blockchain data firm Chainalysis, said:

“Onchain data is like understanding the physical supply and demand of an asset. If you were trading natural gas, you would want to know how much gas is being produced from wells, how much is in storage, and how many households and factories are using it.”

What can we keep an eye on?

• Transaction data: Correct capital flows, trade volumes (DEX volume), and how often people interact with smart contracts.
• Holdings data: They let you find “whales” and keep an eye on whether institutional players are buying up your token or moving it to exchanges to sell it.
• Supply metrics: Inflation, the number of tokens issued, and how they are spread out among wallets.

It’s for the advertisers’ on-chain analytics, which are like detective work. It lets you check to see if the influencer you’re paying really owns the things they’re promoting, or if your new sign-ups are just the result of a Sybil attack (one person with a thousand wallets).

Limitations of traditional metrics in Web3 campaigns

What causes old models to fail? The main reason is that identity and ownership don’t match up. Web2 keeps track of your email address and IP address, while Web3 keeps track of what you own and what you do.

• Anonymity vs. tracking: Many crypto users rely on privacy tools like VPNs or browsers such as Brave, while also rejecting cookies. There isn’t much traditional retargeting going on here.
• Blindness to secondary markets: If someone clicks on your ad but buys your NFT on OpenSea a month later, the regular Meta Pixel won’t see it. The shopping journey isn’t very consistent.
• Algorithm manipulation: In Web2, success is based on how far an algorithm can reach. In Web3, sentiment often forms inside closed communities like Discord or Telegram, beyond the reach of traditional analytics tools. Normal tools like Google Analytics can’t see this data.

Chainalysis 2025 crime data shows $40.9B illicit flows, but on-chain tools cut manipulation risks significantly.

Metrics that matter most to crypto advertisers

To succeed in 2026, you need to look at advertising performance metrics that take into account both web behavior and activity on the blockchain. These are the most important ones:

1. Cost per wallet: Forget about CPA. Cost per wallet tells you how much it costs to get a user who not only visited the site but also connected a wallet and did something on the blockchain. It is the best way to measure ROI. For example, crypto casino Shuffle achieved a stunning $0.76 CPW and acquired over 20k real wallets using Addressable’s on-chain tracking, far outperforming traditional metrics in a high-noise space.
2. TVL (Total Value Locked): TVL is the main way to tell if a DeFi protocol is trustworthy. A billion dollars safely locked in a smart contract is more convincing than any marketing text.
3. On-Chain Retention: Check to see if the wallet you bought a month ago is still working. It’s easy to find one-time hunters in the age of airdrops, but the real value is in the community with a high “Age of Possession” (long-term holders).
4. Token-gated conversion rate: The token-gated method is a way to unlock content, features, or experiences only for people who own certain digital assets. This is a very precise way to find creditworthy customers.

As Stacy Muur, Founder of Greendots and a Web3 marketing/data expert (formerly CMO in crypto), explains:

“On-chain metrics aren’t alpha by themselves, they’re accounting inputs. Fees ≠ revenue, TVL ≠ usage, DAA ≠ users… The edge comes from relationships between metrics: revenue vs fees, volume vs TVL, DAA vs actual cash flows… Treat on-chain data like financial statements: cross-check, normalize, and assume someone is gaming it.”

How to combine on-chain and traditional metrics effectively

The goal is not to get rid of all Web2 tools, but to make a hybrid funnel. Web3 analytics should be the ultimate truth, while traditional tools should only measure input.

• Top of the funnel (Web2): Use X (Twitter) or Google Ads to find out how many people saw your ad and how many clicked on it. This will help you see which creative works are in pictures.
• Moment of connection (bridge): The moment when a visitor who is not logged in becomes an on-chain address through “Wallet Connect.” This is where Web3 attribution comes in. Spindl and Helika are two tools that can link an anonymous click on an ad to a certain wallet.
• Segmentation by creditworthiness: As soon as a user connects a wallet, look at their on-chain history right away. If you see that they have more than $10,000 in assets, you can immediately show them a premium offer through the Web2 interface. This is how chain data analytics and personalized marketing work together in real life.

Platforms like Layer3 and Galxe are already being used for incentivized attribution in Web3 campaigns. The user sees the ad (Web2), does what it says, and gets a reward on the blockchain. You will get data that is 100% accurate about which channel led to real economic activity.

Why on-chain wins

The time when advertisers were happy with reports on the number of clicks is definitely over. There is too much noise (bots, speculation) in crypto marketing for simple data to be reliable. Advertisers who know how to use on-chain analytics have a big edge over their competitors.

They can tell the difference between “paper hands” and a loyal community, as well as between bots and trustworthy investors. People who don’t overestimate clicks and start to understand the wallet’s context will have a bright future. By 2026, the competitive edge in marketing will likely belong to those who can verify the identity behind an anonymous address.