Which Layer3 projects deserve your attention? What is the future of Layer3?

Ethereum has made significant progress on its roadmap over the past few years, completing the transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS), known as “The Merge.” More recently, there has been a "Dencun" upgrade, including proto-danksharding, making Layer 2 transactions even cheaper.

(Source: growthepie)

Before Dencun, Layer 2 transaction fees were about $0.50, and now transaction fees on most Layer 2 chains are only one or two cents. This change greatly facilitates the expansion of new applications on Ethereum.

(Source: Artemis)

Since the Dencun upgrade, the daily transaction volume of Arbitrum and Base has exceeded the Ethereum mainnet, and this trend continues unchanged. While there is still a lot of work to be done in scaling Ethereum, this is an important step in the right direction, with infrastructure improving significantly since the last cycle. The increase in activity and transaction volume on the Arbitrum and Base chains in recent months may be just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come in this cycle.

Layer3 extension

The initial versions of Ethereum rollups are Optimism and Arbitrum, both optimistic rollups. Currently, there are an increasing number of Layer2 optimistic and zero-knowledge rollups, most of which are classified as general purpose. Which rollup an application chooses to run or build on depends on its desired feature set and security requirements. For example, applications such as Uniswap can run on a general-purpose Layer 2 such as Arbitrum One. However, if you are a crypto game or NFT project, or other application that requires higher throughput or extremely low transaction fees (such as $0.0001), you may need a different solution. This is where Layer 3 comes in.

Examples of Layer 3 frameworks include ArbitrumOrbit and zkSyncHyperchains. Although it is still early days for Layer 3, you can expect some changes and improvements in the future. The general idea of ​​Layer 3 is to further extend Ethereum by creating chains that are highly customizable, cheap, fast, and interoperable, with varying degrees of security and decentralization.

Degen Chain (DEGEN)

Degen Chain is an emerging innovative blockchain that was launched in January 2024 and quickly attracted attention, with its fully diluted valuation (FDV) exceeding 2 billion within three months of launch Dollar.

Originally launched on Farcaster’s Degen channel, Degen Chain is a new social app that allows users to “tip” premium content.

Degen is built using Arbitrum Orbit, settles to Base, and uses AnyTrust for data availability (DA). The initial craze for the chain caused total value locked (TVL) to spike, but then leveled off and the price of DEGEN adjusted accordingly.

Sanko (DMT)

Another interesting Layer 3 application is Sanko, another chain built using Arbitrum Orbit, settling to Arbitrum L2, and using AnyTrust for data availability. Sanko focuses primarily on NFTs and games, leveraging the low cost and high throughput provided by Layer 3. Sanko’s native token DMT is set to perform well in 2024.

Dream Machine is an interesting application of Sanko L3. Sanko is also a platform integrating social networking and gaming. Sanko.TV combines gaming and streaming entertainment, and users can purchase passes for their favorite streamers and gain access to private chat rooms, similar to how Friend.tech operates.

Sanko demonstrates the customizability of Layer 3 chains, showing its potential. The increase in DMT prices demonstrates continued interest in what Sanko has built, and combining the innovative nature of gaming and social is a compelling value proposition. Social apps are starting to gain momentum, so Sanko is definitely a project to watch.

The Future of Layer3

Layer 2 mainnet has been online for a few years and has made significant progress in scaling Ethereum. While the scaling roadmap continues to advance, Layer 3, which is highly customizable, seems like the logical next step. There are already many projects experimenting with Layer 3 and have made varying degrees of progress.

However, an interesting use case and a short-lived craze doesn’t necessarily mean a good investment. In both of the examples we discussed (DEGEN and DMT), the native tokens experienced significant volatility and the chains were far from proven. However, now that Layer 2 has expanded and transaction fees only cost a penny or two, the opportunities and use cases have increased significantly. It's important to track application type trends due to increased throughput and customizability, and Layer 3 will certainly present some interesting investment opportunities.

The above is the detailed content of Which Layer3 projects deserve your attention? What is the future of Layer3?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!