After the Ethereum spot ETF is approved, where will the L2 networks go?

Original｜Odaily Planet Daily

Author: Wenser

On May 24th, Beijing time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially approved the 19b-4 application form for the Ethereum spot ETF, marking another milestone in the cryptocurrency industry. After the Ethereum spot ETF was launched, the focus of attention on Ethereum may shift to the Ethereum L2 network and Ethereum staking and re-staking tracks. In conjunction with a picture about the ranking of L2 networks recently released by Wrapcast’s well-known KOL ciniz, Odaily Planet Daily will briefly sort out the relevant status of many L2 networks in this article.

Reference point: S-level projects are still undecided, and L2 networks are flourishing

Looking at the numerous L2 networks, the current landscape shows a "hundred flowers blooming" trend. It is no wonder that some people in the market believe that "L2 networks are just a variant of the former ICO craze."

According to the current development status of L2 network, as shown in the tweet picture released by ciniz, there is no final conclusion on the S-level project, while L2 networks including Base, Op, Arb, Blast, Starknet, Scroll, Linea, zkSync, etc. are catching up with each other in terms of total number of users, number of active users, TVL locked volume, richness of ecological construction and token price performance. Next, we will introduce the "main players" one by one.

L2 Network Rankings from the Perspective of Ciniz

Base: Backed by Coinbase, it will become the rising star of L2 network in 2024

If the popularity of Friend.tech in 2023 only left people with an impression of the Base ecosystem, then in 2024, the Farcaster social protocol and the Base Memecoin craze that followed the Solana ecosystem Memecoin craze have made people have more and higher expectations for the future development of Base, the "son of Coinbase". Especially after Farcaster announced the completion of a $150 million financing led by Paradigm, with participation from a16z crypto, Haun, USV, Variant, Standard Crypto and other institutions, the Base network ushered in another wave of new additions.

Current situation overview:

Whether the token has been issued: No token has been issued (due to Coinbase’s regulatory issues, officials have repeatedly emphasized that the Base network will not issue native tokens);

Ecosystem TVL: $6.62 billion;

Total users: Around 9.4 million, according to Dune.

Popular projects in the ecosystem: Friend.tech, Farcaster, Aerodrome. For more projects, please see the previous article "TVL soared by US$1 billion in 5 days, exploring wealth opportunities in Base ecosystem top projects."

L2 Beat Data

Optimism: A veteran L2 network that builds the "Op Stack Alliance"

As an old L2 network, Op's ecological development has entered a stable period, focusing on building a "super chain ecology" and the Op Stack Alliance. Base can also be regarded as a rising star based on the Op network. Previously, Op's ecological airdrops also made a large number of people rich. At the same time, the Op network is also one of the ecological projects that upholds the "orthodoxy" of Ethereum core figures such as Vitalik.

Current situation overview:

Whether the token has been issued: The token has been issued. The current token price of OP is $2.48 and the market value is $2.71 billion (according to Coingecko data);

Ecosystem TVL: $7.39 billion;

Number of monthly active users: According to Dune data, there are approximately 2.14 million addresses.

Popular ecological projects: World coin, Mirror, Velodrome, etc.

L2 Beat Data

Arbitrum: A long-established L2 network, ranked first in the number of daily active addresses

On May 23, according to a post by David Hoffman, founder of Bankless, the average daily number of active addresses on the Arbitrum network reached 779,000, ranking first among L2 networks. The previous popular game The Beacon also brought a lot of users and attention to the Arbitrum network. The previous Arb airdrop and the many Meme projects of the Arbitrum network that followed provided a lot of "bear market warmth" for many Web3 players. Many people still remember the Arbitrum airdrop preview.

Current situation overview:

Whether the token has been issued: The token has been issued. The current price of the ARB token is $1.13, with a market value of $3.005 billion (according to Coingecko data);

Ecosystem TVL: $18.57 billion;

Number of daily active users: According to Nansen data, around 800,000.

Popular ecological projects: GMX, Camelot, etc.

L2Beat Data

Blast: The first chain to attract deposits with high interest rates, airdrop expectations are the key

If other L2 networks are taking the development route of "steady progress and building an ecosystem", Blast, as an L2 network backed by Blur, an emerging NFT platform, has taken a different and wild route of "high-interest deposit collection", which has also set off the prelude to the "L2 network TVL war". The airdrops of Blast and Blur Season 3 are the key factors that have attracted market attention for a certain period of time. Currently, Blast has announced that its airdrop activity will be launched on June 26, and Blur Season 3 will also end on the same day and will be supported by Blast.

Current situation overview:

Whether the coin has been issued: No coin has been issued;

Ecosystem TVL: US$3.19 billion;

Total number of users: Around 182,500, according to Dune data.

Popular ecological projects: Juice Finance, Thruster, etc.

L2 Beat Data

Starknet: One of the former L2 kings, focusing on ecological construction

After the token airdrop, Starknet, once one of the “Four Heavenly Kings of L2 Network”, unsurprisingly entered a period of low development. Its daily active users on the chain once dropped to single digits, but community building did not stop, and related ecological projects were also developing at their own pace. Previously, the token airdrop of the ecological DEX Ekubo also attracted a certain amount of market attention.

Current situation overview:

Whether the token has been issued: The token has been issued. The current token price of STRK is $1.21, with a market value of $1.38 billion (according to Coingecko data);

Ecosystem TVL: $1.07 billion;

Number of bridge users: According to Dune data, approximately 1.243 million.

Popular ecological projects: Ekubo, zkLend, etc.

L2 Beat Data

Linea: Backed by Consensys, it may usher in a turnaround

On May 23, according to media reports, Consensys CEO Joe Lubin said that the company hopes to use crypto-native methods to attract public investment and is looking for acquisition opportunities. It is currently working with the auditing firm KPMG. He made it clear that Consensys will choose to go public through the blockchain route rather than listing on Nasdaq or other stock exchanges. As the L2 network backed by Consensys, Linea may rekindle the hope of issuing coins. Previously, the Meme project Foxy was also regarded as part of the ecological construction, and the recent continuous rise in TVL is also a major evidence of the turnaround in the development of the ecosystem.

Current situation overview:

Whether the token has been issued: No token has been issued (due to regulatory issues, Linea officials have stated that there is no plan to issue tokens for the time being);

Ecosystem TVL: $1.07 billion;

Total number of users: Around 492,000, according to Dune data.

Popular ecological projects: Mendi Finance, Nile Exchange, etc.

L2 Beat Data

Scroll: L2 star player, procrastinator

On May 17, Whales Market launched Scroll Points. Combined with the early user contribution reward system released by Scroll and the official disclosure that "the system is calculated based on the gas fees spent by users and will be used for the official TGE", the market and community speculated that Scroll may have put the issuance of coins on the agenda. As a star player in the L2 network, Scroll has become the "procrastination duo" together with zkSync.

Current situation overview:

Whether the coin has been issued: No coin has been issued;

Ecosystem TVL: $598 million;

Total number of users: According to Dune data, there are about 183,600 unique addresses.

Popular ecological projects: Tokan Exchange, Pencils Protocol, etc.

L2 Beat Data

zkSync: Several years of construction, coin issuance is imminent

Previously, according to people familiar with the matter, zkSync will start airdropping tokens in mid-June. Later, the official account of zkSync also posted a message suggesting that the airdrop might not be subject to Sybil review. When the news came out, the market was shocked and many people expressed their appreciation for it. Combined with LayerZero’s recent “Sybil Attack and Defense War”, many people sighed that “the situation is clear at once”, and some people sighed that hard work pays off. After several years of construction, zkSync is finally going to issue coins.

Current situation overview:

Whether the coin has been issued: No coin has been issued;

Ecosystem TVL: $886 million;

Number of bridge users: According to Dune data, approximately 2.376 million.

Popular ecological projects: Koi Finance, zkSwap FInance, etc.

L2 Beat Data

Mantle: Born out of the investment organization BitDAO

Previously, Mantle's treasury managed assets once reached US$3.2 billion (mainly composed of BIT, MNT, ETH, USDC, and USDT). Its initial supporters included cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, Dragonfly, Pantera Capital, Polygon and other well-known investment institutions and individuals. Recently, Mantle also launched the Mantle Scouts grant program, with a trial run of an MNT prize pool of US$1 million. Although the ecological landscape is relatively barren, its support for different types of projects is obvious to all. The decentralized credit market Clearpool has issued nearly 10,000 MNT as a reward for Mantle network liquidity activities.

Current situation overview:

Whether the token has been issued: The token has been issued. The current token price of MNT is 0.99 USD, with a market value of 3.23 billion USD (according to Coingecko data);

Ecosystem TVL: $1.26 billion;

Number of bridge users: According to Dune data, about 35,000.

Popular ecological projects: Merchant Moe, ONDO FInance, etc.

L2 Beat Data

summary:

According to data from the L2 Beat website, the total TVL of the L2 network is currently 45.59 billion US dollars. Although it is within a certain range of fluctuations, the increase in 7 days has reached 17.98%, which still shows that the market is highly concerned about and enthusiastic about the L2 network. Now that the Ethereum spot ETF has been approved, perhaps the next wave of market hotspots and capital flows will be the many L2 networks including the above popular ecosystems.

Whether different types of L2 networks can find their own ecological niche and seize the opportunity brought by the Ethereum spot ETF, perhaps the performance of zkSync and Blast, which are about to issue tokens in June, can give us a glimpse.

L2 Beat Data

Reference website:

https://dune.com/

https://defillama.com/chain

https://app.nansen.ai/macro/blockchains

https://www.coingecko.com/zh/categories/layer-2