Author: Lucent
On July 2, ZKSync launched Elastic Chain, the ZKSync 3.0 protocol upgrade. This upgrade allows the creation of an interoperable ZK chain network built on the ZK Stack - more like the ZK version of Optimism's Superchain and Arbitrum's Orbit. According to BSCN, Lens Protocol is scheduled to be officially launched on ZKSync in the last quarter of 2024.
On September 4, the long-awaited upgrade from MATIC to POL will be launched on the Polygon PoS network. POL will replace MATIC as the native gas and staking token on the PoS network. DeFi protocols and dApps on Polygon PoS, Ethereum, and zkEVM will update their infrastructure to support POLToken. Users who stake and delegate MATIC on Ethereum will have their MATIC used to secure the Polygon PoS network automatically converted to POL.
In this issue of editorial, we take a deep dive into Ethereum’s Layer2 space and look at the giants in this space.
Since Arbitrum and Optimism took the lead in the Rollup race in 2021, dozens of other networks have emerged with different approaches to scaling Ethereum. According to data from L2BEAT, there are currently 63 active Layer 2 networks and another 80 in development.The total locked value (TVL) of these networks is approximately $44 billion. The top five networks account for the vast majority of this TVL, more than 80% of the total value. It can be said that they are the whales of Ethereum L2.
In this post, we will briefly introduce these top Layer 2 networks, highlighting their features, supported projects, etc. Let's get started.
Ranked at No. 5 is Mantle, with a TVL of $1.37 billion as of the time of writing. Mantle was launched in July 2023 to promote the mass adoption of decentralization and token governance technology. In the past month, the network recorded 797,000 active addresses and 13.59 million transactions. Mantle takes an interconnected approach, separating transaction execution, consensus, settlement, and data availability into different layers.
An important feature of the Mantle ecosystem is its strong financial support and incentive program. One of them is a $200 million ecosystem fund catalyzed by 100 million USDC provided by BitDAO's treasury to invest in native applications and technology partners built on the Mantle network. They also provided a total of $300 million in USDx, ETH, BTC, and MNT to promote ecosystem growth and partnerships by providing liquidity support for applications. This liquidity support helps attract and retain projects built on Mantle.
To mark its first anniversary, Mantle is running a commemorative NFT minting event, which is still ongoing.
Blast L2 is an Optimistic Rollup that provides native yield generation capabilities for Ethereum (ETH) and stablecoins. This means that users can earn yield directly by holding ETH and stablecoins on the Blast L2 network without the need for additional staking or yield farming protocols. The network has a total locked value (TVL) of $2.65 billion, with more than 860,000 active addresses and 20.89 million transactions in the past month.
By sharing gas revenue with dApp developers, Blast gives developers the flexibility to choose to keep gas revenue or use it to subsidize users' gas fees.Blast's airdrop snapshot and token distribution took place on June 26, 2024, and users need to claim the airdrop within 30 days.
In addition to the significant airdrop, users on Blast can now bridge between Blast and the Ethereum mainnet within seven days, which is twice as fast as the previous 14 days.
Optimism mainnet was launched in December 2021. It is now the third largest Layer 2 solution in the Ethereum ecosystem with a total locked value (TVL) of $6.77 billion. The number of active addresses in the past month was 1.79 million, and the transaction volume was 14.21 million. The Optimism Foundation is not only building a Rollup, but also an ecosystem of interconnected L2 networks that they call Superchain. Optimism's Retro Funding program (Retro Funding) was launched in 2023. The first round of funding applications opened in January 2023, and since then, Optimism has allocated 850 million OPTokens (20% of the initial token supply) to fund the program. In the first three rounds, a total of 30 million OPTokens were distributed to contributors. RPGF is currently entering its fourth round.
Some of the top projects running on Optimism include Aave V3, Synthetic, and Velodrome.
Base was launched by Coinbase in 2023 and has experienced significant growth in a short period of time. The network has surpassed its competitors to become the second largest Rollup with a current total locked value (TVL) of $7.27 billion. In the past month, the network had 9.55 million active addresses and 94.12 million transactions.
Base aims to be a highly secure and decentralized Layer 2 solution that leverages Optimism's OP Stack, including advanced features such as fraud proofs and state commitments to ensure strong security. The network is also an important stakeholder in the Optimism Superchain initiative. Some top projects, such as Aave, Synthetix, Immutable X, and Uniswap, run on Base.
Arbitrum is a giant in Ethereum Rollup. The network ranks first, accounting for about 40% of the entire Layer 2 market share. In the past 30 days, 7.15 million active addresses interacted with the network, and the transaction volume reached 62.13 million transactions.
Similar to Optimism, Arbitrum is also building an ecosystem of permissionless chains, which they call Arbitrum Orbit. Many well-known DeFi platforms use Arbitrum One, such as Uniswap, Aave, Ankr, and OpenSea.
In addition to Arbitrum One, Arbitrum also launched Arbitrum Nova in August 2022. Nova is a new chain built with AnyTrust technology that aims to further expand the Ethereum blockchain. Arbitrum Nova further reduces costs and is one of the most cost-effective blockchains currently available. The chain focuses mainly on high-throughput dApps, making it ideal for gaming applications, NFTs, tools, nodes, and bridges.
The total locked value on L2 exceeds US$40 billion!
Top ten projects ranked by total locked value (TVL):
Top projects ranked by total locked value (TVL) in the last seven days:
Top projects ranked by total locked value (TVL) in the last seven days:
kSync
Top projects ranked by total locked value (TVL) in the last seven days:
Top projects ranked by total locked value (TVL) in the last seven days:
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