The Ethereum layer-2 scaling ecosystem is thriving. This is despite recent bearish market sentiment. Ryan Berckmans, an Ethereum community member, made this assertion on social media.
Berckmans was responding to criticism from Rushi Manche, founder of Movement Labs. Manche had claimed that "EVM L2s will go to zero." He argued they were inferior to Solana.
Berckmans strongly disagreed. He pointed to rapid growth in layer-2 protocols and EVM scaling platforms. "Coinbase made an EVM L2. So did Worldcoin. So did Immutable X," he noted.
Layer-2 solutions are increasingly seen as integral to Ethereum, not just for scaling. Berckmans argued they offer better value than alternative layer-1 networks. This is due to Ethereum's "credible neutrality" as a base layer.
He also highlighted Ethereum's larger ecosystem. It surpasses competitors in liquidity, mature protocols, and total value locked.
Berckmans made a bold prediction about transaction throughput. "In five years, [L2s will surpass Solana] by like 100x," he stated.
The analyst sees Ethereum's layer-2 ecosystem as more attractive for corporations and governments. This is due to its security and decentralization properties.
He described a "settlement network effect" for Ethereum. As the layer-2 ecosystem grows, it increases benefits and reduces costs of settling on Ethereum.
Berckmans concluded by emphasizing the strength of Ethereum's L2 model. "What we're actually seeing is that Ethereum's L2 model is killing it, and EVM is leading the pack by far," he said.
Current data supports this optimistic outlook. Total value locked across all L2 protocols stands at $42.86 billion, according to L2beat. This figure has remained steady since March, despite an 18% decline in overall crypto markets.
Year-over-year, L2 TVL has surged by approximately 280%. Arbitrum One leads with $17 billion TVL and 40% market share. Coinbase Base and OP Mainnet follow with $7.3 billion and $6.4 billion respectively.
L2beat now lists 58 protocols. This is a significant increase from just a handful a year ago. It further underscores the rapid growth of the layer-2 ecosystem.