Author: Stella L (stella@footprint.network)
Data Source: Footprint Analytics Public Chain Research Dashboard
2024 marks a significant watershed in the public chain industry, with the industry's focus shifting from technological competition to practical application deployment. In this year, the market capitalization of public chains grew by 105.3% to $2.8 trillion, Bitcoin's price surpassed $100,000, and institutional adoption was achieved through ETFs. Ethereum's Layer 2 network expanded to over 200 chains, and Bitcoin's Layer 2 TVL grew by 1,277.6%, all demonstrating the industry's transition from technical experimentation to practical real-world applications. The public chain industry is undergoing a gradual shift from technology-driven development to application-demand-driven development.
Note: Unless otherwise specified, all data in this report is as of December 20, 2024.
Market Dynamics: Growth and Transformation
The public chain industry achieved unprecedented growth in 2024, with multiple key indicators showing significant expansion.
The total market capitalization of public chains grew by 105.3% to $2.8 trillion. Bitcoin's dominance rose to 69.8%, while Ethereum's share fell from 20.4% to 15.2%. The shares of BNB Chain and Solana stabilized at 3.5% and 3.3%, respectively, while other platforms accounted for 8.1%.
The DeFi sector also displayed strong growth momentum in 2024, with total locked value (TVL) reaching $102.8 billion by year-end, a year-on-year increase of 88.6%. Among the top 10 public chains by TVL, Bitcoin and TON saw the most significant increases, both exceeding 2,000%. Aptos, Sui, and Solana also performed well, growing by 754.4%, 677.1%, and 321.3%, respectively. However, Tron and Avalanche experienced a decline in TVL.
The Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem experienced significant centralization in 2024. Arbitrum maintained its leading position with a TVL of $10.6 billion and a market share of 41.1%, down from 50.8% in 2023. Base emerged as the dark horse of the year, rising to second place with a TVL of $5.8 billion (22.5% share), while Optimism ranked third with a TVL of $4 billion (15.8%). These three platforms together accounted for 79.1% of Ethereum L2 DeFi TVL, while previous competitors like Blast, zkSync, and Starknet saw declines in market share.
Meanwhile, the ecosystem is continuously expanding, with 50 Rollups and 70 Validium & Optimium currently operating on the mainnet, along with about 90 upcoming chains, bringing the total number of Ethereum L2 chains to over 200.
Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechain ecosystems experienced explosive growth, with total locked value reaching $2.6 billion, a significant increase of 1,277.6% compared to 2023. Core leads with $790 million TVL (30.3% market share), followed by Bitlayer ($500 million, 19.4% share) and BSquared ($330 million, 12.7% share). This growth is reflected not only in TVL but also in the number of active chains, which more than doubled throughout the year, with nearly 20 chains currently in existence.
Competitive Landscape: Leaders and Challengers
In 2024, the competitive landscape of the public chain ecosystem underwent significant changes, primarily characterized by the strengthening of Bitcoin's dominance, the resurgence of Solana, and the rise of emerging challengers.
Bitcoin: From Store of Value to Financial Infrastructure
Bitcoin achieved remarkable growth in 2024, with prices rising by 129.2% and market capitalization growing by 131.7%. This growth was driven by institutional adoption of spot ETFs, the April halving event, and positive sentiment following the U.S. elections. In addition to breaking the $100,000 price milestone, the Bitcoin ecosystem saw two key developments:
Institutional Adoption: The successful issuance of spot ETFs in January has completely changed the institutional access landscape, with BlackRock's product quickly reaching a scale of $20 billion. Bitcoin has overtaken silver and Saudi Aramco to become the seventh-largest asset globally, marking a shift from a speculative asset to a recognized store of value.
The Rise of BTCfi: The Bitcoin ecosystem has achieved expansion beyond price growth through innovative financial products. Babylon's Bitcoin staking project, Solv Protocol's cross-chain solutions, and Core's Fusion upgrade all showcase an increasingly mature ecosystem. Cross-chain functionality has made progress through the integration of the BOB network with Optimism and the BEVM 'Super Bitcoin' framework, although standardization still faces challenges.
Ethereum: Layer 2 Drives Ecological Evolution
2024 is a crucial year for Ethereum's transformation into a Layer 2-centric ecosystem. Despite a price increase of 55.8% to $3,744, Ethereum faces complex challenges in repositioning its role and maintaining relevance amidst the growth of Layer 2 adoption. The successful issuance of spot ETFs in July received a degree of institutional recognition, but Ethereum's price performance lagged notably behind Bitcoin.
Ethereum's mainnet underwent significant changes through the 'Cancun Upgrade,' successfully reducing Layer 2 transaction costs and enhancing scalability. However, the migration of activity to Layer 2 resulted in a decline in Ethereum's own fee revenue, raising discussions about Ethereum's long-term sustainability. The Ethereum Foundation has responded with several initiatives, including the implementation of Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844), the development of cross-L2 communication standards, and strengthening security requirements for Layer 2 solutions.
The Layer 2 ecosystem exhibited significant growth and integration throughout the year. Notable newcomers enriched the ecosystem, including World Chain, Uniswap's Unichain, and Sony's Soneium. This evolution highlights Ethereum's transition from a pure execution layer to a diversified Layer 2 ecosystem in terms of settlement and security provision. While revenue models and competitive dynamics remain uncertain, Ethereum's continued development in developer activity and innovation in scaling solutions demonstrates its adaptability.
Solana: The Third Giant
2024 witnessed a strong resurgence of Solana, with prices rising by 70.8% and market capitalization growing by 90.9%. In November, the coin price broke through $260, setting a new historical high. This revival began with the January Jupiter airdrop, and Solana's ecosystem activity became unprecedentedly vibrant. Solana has established itself as a hub for retail trading, nurturing a vibrant meme and DeFi community. Beyond meme culture, Solana has made progress in various fields: re-staking protocols, modular Layer 2 solutions, and stablecoin innovations. The ecosystem has extended its influence further through the expansion of SVM chains such as Eclipse, Soon, Atlas, and Sonic.
The Rise of Emerging Forces: TON, Sui, and Base
TON: Social Integration Drives Platform Growth
The Open Network (TON) showed significant growth in 2024, with Toncoin prices rising by 149.6% and market capitalization growing by 84.3%. TON's success primarily stems from its deep integration with Telegram, effectively bridging the gap between traditional social networks and blockchain technology. The platform simplifies the crypto experience through Telegram wallet features and blockchain integration, providing millions of users with easy access to gaming, meme, and DeFi applications, establishing a model for mass adoption.
Sui: From Move Language Pioneer to Ecosystem Leader
Sui performed impressively, with token prices skyrocketing by 461.6% and market capitalization growing by 1,363.8%. This success reflects the market's confidence in the Move language technology and ecosystem development. Sui focuses on DeFi and gaming sectors, including Telegram game integrations and the innovative SuiPlay0X1 game console development, showcasing its comprehensive layout for ecosystem growth. The platform's emphasis on user experience and protocol development has created positive network effects, attracting participation from both developers and users.
Base: Institutional Background Drives Rapid Growth
Base's significant growth was driven by several key factors. Coinbase achieved a substantial reduction in mainstream user entry barriers through its user-friendly smart wallet. The platform gained substantial momentum from successful social applications like friend.tech and Clanker, while the popularity of memecoins further increased activity on the Base chain. The implementation of the 'Cancun Upgrade' significantly lowered transaction fees, continually enhancing Base's attraction to developers and users.
2024 Major Trends in the Public Chain Industry
New Chains Emerging Continuously
In 2024, project teams launched their own public chains. DeFi giant Uniswap announced Unichain; gaming platform Treasure DAO developed a ZK-based Layer 2; the NFT space saw Pudgy Penguins launching Abstract; and Web3 platform Galxe introduced Gravity. Moreover, innovative new chains such as Monad, Berachain, and HyperLiquid entering the market reflect the shift of the public chain industry towards specialized blockchain infrastructure.
Institutional Adoption: From Exploration to Strategic Integration
Transformation in Institutional Participation
2024 marks a decisive shift in institutional adoption from experimental blockchain initiatives to strategic implementation. Financial institutions are leading this transformation, with BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF rapidly reaching $20 billion, and PayPal expanding PYUSD to Solana. Tech giants are demonstrating deeper involvement through innovative means: Sony launched the Soneium chain for entertainment applications, while Google Cloud expanded its Web3 portal services. Infrastructure development is particularly noteworthy, with Circle launching native USDC on Sui and Visa integrating Solana for settlements.
Paradigm Shift in Institutional Investment
The public chain sector exhibited strong recovery in 2024, with 174 financing events raising a total of $1.7 billion, a 137.1% increase over the previous year. Notably, institutional investment strategies shifted from pure infrastructure to application-oriented innovations. Early investment events accounted for 21.4% of total financing events, while Series A and B rounds accounted for 31.8%, reflecting the ecosystem's increasing maturity.
The investment philosophy of venture capital has undergone a significant evolution, prioritizing user-oriented applications over traditional infrastructure development. This is reflected in substantial investments in consumer-facing projects: Monad raised $225 million to optimize user experience, while Celestia and Berachain each secured $100 million for application-oriented infrastructure.
From Technological Competition to Application Innovation
The public chain industry underwent a fundamental shift in 2024, moving from technology-led to application-driven strategies. This transition challenged the previously dominant industry mindset of 'build first, users will come naturally.' Despite significant advancements in technological capabilities, the increased network capacity did not directly translate into corresponding user growth. For example, despite hardware limitations, Ethereum's base layer has a higher 'users processed per second' (UOPS) than most Layer 2s, highlighting the complex relationship between technological ability and actual adoption.
This reality prompted the ecosystem to undergo a strategic shift. Blockchain platforms are increasingly focused on identifying specific user needs and building targeted solutions rather than chasing pure technological progress. This 'find the user and then build' approach is reflected in multiple successful initiatives. Social finance integration has proven to be a particularly effective strategy, as demonstrated by TON's integration with Telegram and Base's friend.tech, showcasing how familiar social platforms can drive blockchain adoption. By simplifying user experience through account abstraction and familiar authentication methods, the entry barriers for mainstream users have been significantly lowered.
The evolution of meme culture in the blockchain space further illustrates this shift towards application-oriented development. Initially purely speculative activities have evolved into effective user acquisition channels, particularly on platforms like Solana and Base. These networks have successfully leveraged meme-related initiatives to drive ecosystem growth while establishing sustainable community engagement. The success of these user-centric approaches indicates that sustainable growth in the blockchain space increasingly relies on understanding and serving user needs rather than merely advancing technological capabilities.
2025 Outlook
As the blockchain industry shifts from technical experimentation to practical implementation, 2025 is expected to be a significant year of transformation.
Regulatory Clarity
The regulatory environment shows significant improvement, particularly in the United States. A clearer regulatory framework is expected to benefit the entire industry, especially with progress on stablecoin legislation. This regulatory clarity will promote institutional adoption of blockchain through increased regulated products and services, while fostering competition in crypto regulation across jurisdictions.
Public Chain Specialization
Public chain specialization has become a dominant trend, shifting from general Layer 1 competition to purpose-driven architectures. Supported by cross-chain infrastructure, application-specific chains and optimized execution environments will see significant growth. The 'Rollup as a Service' (RaaS) sector is expected to expand, providing more convenient customized blockchain solutions for enterprises and project teams.
Technological Innovation and AI Integration
In 2025, technological innovation will shift from pure breakthroughs to application-oriented infrastructure upgrades. The implementation of Proto-Danksharding will double blob capacity, pushing Layer 2 scalability into a new phase; the development of chain abstraction technology will provide a more intuitive user experience; and the standardization of cross-chain communication will simplify interoperability.
At the infrastructure level, we expect to see more developments driven by actual demand. Modular blockchain technology stacks will mature, providing specialized solutions for data availability, settlement, and execution layers. Notably, the deep integration of AI technology with blockchain will reshape infrastructure forms: from improving user interfaces to enabling complex on-chain AI agents, from decentralized model training to supporting social finance integration, these innovations will support more complex application scenarios while maintaining security and decentralization, laying a solid foundation for the next round of blockchain innovation.
Conclusion
The past year has demonstrated that sustainable growth relies not only on technological capabilities but also on meaningful user adoption and practical utility. With improved regulatory clarity, advancements in technological infrastructure, and increased institutional participation, the foundation for meaningful large-scale adoption of blockchain technology has been established. The focus has shifted from 'what’s technically possible' to 'what’s practically valuable,' a transition that will define the next stage of growth in the industry in 2025.
