Magic Blog
How to Segment Crypto Audiences by Chain Behavior (Without Web2 Tools)

How to Segment Crypto Audiences by Chain Behavior (Without Web2 Tools)

Crypto 101

03 Jul 2025

1. Introduction: Why Traditional Segmentation Fails in Web3

The marketing world has been obsessed with audience segmentation for decades. In Web2, this meant slicing users by demographics, behavior on websites, email engagement, or social activity. But when it comes to Web3 — where wallets are pseudonymous, cookies don’t work, and users hop chains daily — this model falls flat.

Most crypto users don’t fill out forms, opt into newsletters, or share personal info. They interact with your protocol by connecting a wallet — and often, that’s the only signal you get. But it's a strong one.

In Web3, segmentation has to evolve. It’s no longer about who your users say they are — it's about what their wallets do on-chain.

This guide explores how to build actionable crypto audience segments using only blockchain behavior — no Meta pixels, no Google Analytics, no CRMs. Just pure wallet data and smart analysis.

2. The Rise of Wallet-Centric User Profiles

Wallets are the new user accounts. Every DeFi swap, NFT mint, token stake, DAO vote, or bridge action tells a story about a user’s preferences, experience level, and risk appetite.

Unlike traditional platforms that require manual tagging or declared interests, wallets reveal real behavior:

Which chains they use (Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, etc.)
What protocols they trust (Uniswap vs SushiSwap vs Raydium)
How often they participate in on-chain activity
How long they hold assets (diamond hands vs swing traders)

This data is publicly available, verifiable, and more accurate than anything from Web2.

By treating wallets as behavioral identities, you can build powerful segmentation strategies that:

Personalize dApp experiences
Optimize marketing spend
Deliver relevant quest rewards or airdrops
Improve protocol stickiness

3. Key On-Chain Behaviors That Define User Segments

To segment effectively, you need to define which behaviors matter. Here are some core ones used in Web3 user modeling:

1. Chain Usage

Does the wallet operate mostly on Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, or L2s like Base and Arbitrum? Chain choice often reflects:

Gas cost sensitivity
Preferred ecosystem (DeFi-heavy vs NFT-heavy)
Experience level

2. Wallet Age + Transaction History

New vs veteran wallets behave differently. Old wallets with frequent transactions signal seasoned users, while newly activated wallets may be airdrop hunters or newbies.

3. Smart Contract Interactions

Which protocols has the wallet used? For instance:

Swapped on Curve = DeFi native
Minted on Magic Eden = NFT user
Participated in governance = DAO aligned

4. Asset Holding Pattern

Holding native tokens = likely believer in project
Holding only stables = risk-averse
Frequent swaps = active trader

5. Participation in Campaigns/Quests

Track who completed which Zealy, Layer3, Galxe quests. This is useful for creating:

Retargeting lists
Loyalty tiers
High-intent campaign segments

With these behaviors in mind, let’s explore the tools that help build these segments.

4. Tool #1: Dune Analytics for Cohort Creation

Dune is one of the most powerful tools for reading and analyzing on-chain data. It allows you to query blockchain behavior using SQL and visualize it via custom dashboards.

What you can do with Dune:

Filter wallets based on contract interaction
Group wallets into cohorts (e.g., stakers vs non-stakers)
Monitor engagement over time
Track funnel behavior (wallet connect → deposit → LP → exit)

Dune is ideal for marketers who want custom, granular control over data. You can publish your dashboards, make them shareable with your team, or integrate with reporting tools.

Use Dune to build:

“Top 1K wallets by protocol interaction” lists
Wallet segments by behavior (e.g., ‘held token > 30 days’)
Retention curves based on action timestamps

5. Tool #2: Nansen Wallet Labels and Token Flow Mapping

Nansen provides real-time wallet intelligence by tagging wallets based on behavior. This includes labels like:

Smart Money
NFT Collector
DEX Trader
Airdrop Farmer

These labels are incredibly useful for quick segmentation:

Want to target DeFi natives? Filter for DEX Traders.
Looking for whales? Filter wallets that move large sums regularly.
Trying to avoid bots? Filter out airdrop farmers.

Nansen also lets you map token flows — i.e., where funds go after major events (like a launch or airdrop). This can uncover:

Hidden influencers
Protocol synergies
Wallet groups acting in sync

6. Tool #3: Flipside Crypto for User Funnels and Retention Analysis

Flipside takes a more behavioral analytics approach. It lets you build time-based dashboards that answer questions like:

How many wallets completed a quest in 24 hours?
What percentage returned within 7 days?
How does staking behavior differ from swapping?

With Flipside, you can:

Segment wallets by onboarding stage
Analyze retention cohorts (D1, D7, D30)
Compare user journeys across chains

Flipside is ideal for campaigns or products with longer user journeys — like DeFi protocols or GameFi dApps.

7. Tool #4: TrendX for Predictive Wallet Segmentation

TrendX uses AI to analyze wallet behavior across chains and identify patterns that aren’t immediately obvious.

It’s useful for:

Predicting which wallets are likely to churn
Spotting wallets with high transaction velocity
Mapping out wallet “personas” based on behavior patterns

TrendX can feed into your campaign planning by telling you:

Which chain a wallet will likely use next
Which wallets respond best to quests vs direct incentives
How to optimize timing and messaging based on prior behavior

It’s a powerful solution when you’re running scaled marketing or retention campaigns and want to focus on high-potential segments.

8. Common Crypto Segments You Can Build Today

Once you’ve collected on-chain data through tools like Dune, Nansen, and TrendX, you can create detailed segments that help personalize experiences and increase conversion.

Here are practical audience segments Web3 marketers are using:

NFT Collectors: Wallets that have minted or bought NFTs from top marketplaces. Great for new NFT drops, cross-promotions, and whitelists.
Yield Farmers: Users who frequently stake and unstake across DeFi protocols. Useful for new farm launches, TVL growth campaigns, or incentivized LP programs.
Chain Migrators: Wallets that used to operate heavily on one chain but have recently bridged to another. This signals openness to try new ecosystems.
Diamond Hands: Long-term token holders who haven’t sold through market cycles. Perfect for exclusive governance opportunities, premium airdrops, and loyalty rewards.
Airdrop Hunters: Wallets that perform basic actions across many protocols but rarely stay. Good for learning what not to incentivize.

You can mix-and-match these segments too. For instance: NFT collectors on Solana who also bridged to Base last month.

9. Case Study: GameFi Campaign with Chain-Based Segmentation

Let’s walk through a practical example of using segmentation in a live campaign.

Project: A new GameFi title on Arbitrum was struggling to get high-intent users.

Problem: They were targeting general crypto audiences on Twitter and Discord, but seeing low conversion to wallet connections and gameplay.

Segmentation Strategy:

Used Flipside to identify wallets that had staked on TreasureDAO games before.
Used TrendX to find wallets that recently bridged to Arbitrum from BNB or Polygon.
Used Nansen to label active GameFi users on multiple chains.

Execution:

Created custom Zealy quests for those cohorts.
Sent them into retargeting flows via Galxe, Layer3.
Tracked behavior post-campaign via Dune dashboards.

Results:

12% wallet-to-player conversion (3x above industry avg)
68% of new players staked within first week
Higher TVL and longer average session time compared to generic traffic

This example shows how Web3 segmentation can drive real growth and retention without relying on cookies or centralized CRMs.

10. How to Retarget Segments with Wallet-Only Funnels

Once you have wallet-based segments, how do you re-engage them? Here’s how to retarget without ever asking for an email:

Quest Platforms (Zealy, Galxe, Layer3): Use unique quest campaigns targeting specific wallet lists. These platforms support wallet-based whitelisting, tiered rewards, and on-chain proof of participation.
NFT Gating: Issue NFTs or badges to segment cohorts. Then, offer gated access to exclusive quests, Discord channels, or staking boosts.
Chain-based Ads: Platforms like AdShares and Spindl allow you to serve ads based on wallet behavior and chain activity. You can retarget wallets that interacted with specific dApps or bridges.
On-Chain Messaging: Use protocols like Notifi or XMTP to send secure wallet messages. These are still in early stages but gaining traction as an alternative to email.

11. Building a Dynamic Segmentation Dashboard

Static wallet lists aren’t enough — your audience is constantly evolving. That’s why it’s essential to build a dynamic segmentation dashboard using tools like Dune, Flipside, or custom GraphQL endpoints that fetch live data from blockchains.

What to include in your dashboard:

Top performing wallet cohorts (sorted by conversion or retention)
Churn risk segments based on inactivity
Chain migration patterns (e.g., from Solana to Base)
NFT mint + swap combo users (indicates hybrid user types)
Active governance voters vs passive token holders

With dynamic dashboards, you can:

Auto-update campaigns based on changing wallet behaviors
Trigger different flows for newly active or dormant users
Share insights across marketing and product teams

The best segmentation systems are those that evolve with your users.

12. Common Mistakes to Avoid in On-Chain Segmentation

Even the most advanced teams make mistakes when trying to segment users via wallet behavior. Here are some pitfalls to avoid:

Over-Reliance on Airdrop Farmers: Some segments can look big but be hollow. For example, wallets that interact once just to qualify for rewards — but never return.
Ignoring Multichain Wallets: Many users operate across multiple chains. If you only analyze one, you’ll miss large portions of their activity.
Assuming Wallet = Person: Some users have multiple wallets for privacy or farming reasons. Focus on patterns, not individual identities.
Lack of Post-Segment Engagement: Segmentation is only step one. Without follow-ups like quests, messaging, or offers — you won’t retain or convert anyone.

Avoid these traps and your segmentation strategy will produce more reliable insights.

13. The Future of Web3 Segmentation

As blockchain UX improves, and user tooling becomes more sophisticated, wallet segmentation will become a competitive edge — not just a nice-to-have.

Emerging trends include:

Wallet reputation scores for trustless segmentation
Cross-chain unified identities (via ENS, Lens, or ERC-4337 wallets)
AI-generated wallet personas based on behavioral clusters
Decentralized analytics DAOs that share user insights while preserving privacy

Projects that build these systems early will enjoy:

More relevant user experiences
Higher retention and LTV
Lower CAC by targeting wallet actions, not noise

Wallet-first segmentation is the future of crypto growth marketing.

FAQs

1. What is wallet segmentation in crypto marketing?

Wallet segmentation refers to grouping users based on on-chain wallet activity rather than traditional identifiers like names or email addresses. It’s essential in Web3 since wallets serve as the primary user profile. By analyzing behavior (e.g., transaction history, chain usage, token holdings), marketers can better understand and target their audience.

2. How do I know if a wallet is an airdrop hunter?

Airdrop hunters usually interact with multiple protocols briefly and in bulk, then disappear. You can flag them by:

Monitoring short-term wallet activity bursts
Checking if they dump tokens immediately
Observing repeat behavior across multiple airdrops

Nansen and Flipside can help detect such patterns.

3. Can I use wallet segmentation across different blockchains?

Yes, but it requires multichain analysis. Tools like TrendX and Flipside support cross-chain insights. You’ll need to associate wallet addresses across chains or track behaviors that span L1 and L2 ecosystems to get a complete picture.

4. What’s the best tool for crypto audience segmentation?

It depends on your goal:

Dune: great for SQL-based custom cohort building
Flipside: ideal for retention and funnel analysis
Nansen: real-time wallet labeling
TrendX: AI-based predictive behavior mapping

Many teams use a mix of all for full coverage.

5. How do I retarget wallets without email addresses?

You can retarget wallets using:

Quest platforms like Galxe or Zealy
NFT gating tools (for exclusive rewards)
XMTP/Notifi for secure wallet messaging
On-chain ad networks like AdShares

All rely on wallet address rather than Web2 info.

6. Are there privacy risks in on-chain segmentation?

While data is public, ethical concerns arise around profiling. Avoid doxxing or using wallet data for coercive marketing. Stick to patterns, anonymized segments, and transparency in how you use user behavior.