In the world of cryptos, accurate data-driven insights are hard to come by. Trends change by the second, and market data is highly dynamic, primarily due to the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies. There is a dearth of easy-to-access, reliable market information. Keeping this in mind, one particular data analytics company is looking to fill this gap by providing quick, convenient and free to access crypto data; it is called Dune Analytics.
What is Dune Analytics?
Dune Analytics is a community-based open-source data provider which allows anyone to publish and access crypto trends in real-time.
Founded by Fredrik Haga and Mats Olsen in 2018, Dune Analytics is an Ethereum-based analytics platform that makes on-chain crypto data accessible and consumable. It is also open-source and free to use, meaning anyone can publish and access datasets without going through any formal registration process or paying for the privilege of participation.
According to the company's site, the name comes from the dunes in the desert that resemble data charts. It also has a connection to the science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert.
Dune Analytics was founded with the expressed purpose of making Web 3.0 data accessible to everyone. Initially, Haga and Olsen built a tool that allowed anyone to analyse a couple dozen smart contract products live on the Ethereum blockchain.
Since then, the company has grown significantly and currently provides data insights about cryptocurrencies. It also provides datasets from the art, DAO, and gaming sectors, among many others.
The user base of the platform has also grown exponentially. It was merely a playing field for data geeks and enthusiasts when the company started. Today it provides a large spectrum of data to a massive consumer base encompassing established companies and start-ups.
What makes Dune Analytics unique?
At its heart, Dune Analytics is a community-driven project. Their data is open to everyone and is remixable. Unlike other companies, Dune's employees are not the only ones that prepare data sets for specific projects. Instead, it allows everyone to query complex data using their robust editor and dashboard.
Dune's vibrant community comprises traders, analysts, and enthusiasts who save and share their data analysis with the world. This open process allows the data to be mixed and reused to meet anyone's needs. Many consider it the Github of the data analytics world.
Dune's open dashboards
Dune uses open dashboards, replacing their age-old closed, un-auditable, and expensive counterparts. The dashboards allow users to easily see and understand complex data using easy-to-understand charts and graphs.
Anyone can publish dashboards on the site, and they are easily accessible. In addition, anyone can use a dashboard posted on the site to create their own data set and dashboards.
Most of the queries on the site are presented through dashboards. These dashboards can be used to track all sorts of data. Search queries can be used to track something as popular and diverse as NFT collections bought by top traders on OpenSea. It can also be used to dig up data on something as niche as Ethereum Name System domains with ten-letter names. You can find various queries that will track many data sets, and if there is one you cannot see, you can be the person to create it.
How to use Dune Analytics?
As mentioned above, any user can create or access dashboards on the site. You can see popular dashboards on the site by clicking on the 'discover button' or find specific ones using their search function.
Dune supports blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Optimism and Gnosis Chain, and any smart contract built on these platforms. Dune uses Structured Query Language (SQL) to display the data when someone requests it.
Anyone on the site can create queries by clicking on the 'new query' option. However, you might need to have a bit of SQL knowledge to build your queries on the site.
The website also has a paid subscription service as a higher tier option that costs $390 or Rs. 27,787 a month. The subscription enables users to skip the query queue and run several parallel queries. This allows for queries to be processed faster. The subscription also allows users to keep dashboards private and export data in the form of comma-separated values (CSV) files.
How can Dune help investors?
If you are not big on creating data sets and queries, Dune can also help you as an investor. The rigorous real-time data can help you track any potential investment asset, from cryptocurrencies to DAOs.
There are datasets from countless crypto companies and protocols, such as Argent, Uniswap, Compound, Messari, and ConsenSys. You can stay up to date about any changes and price actions with accuracy as you look to invest in the project or coin of your liking.
With a community of professionals and enthusiasts driving the data, you will always be able to find the information you are looking for with maximum accuracy.
