Base Outshines Arbitrum And Optimism In Ethereum L2 TVL War

In the fight for dominance in the Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) ecosystem, Coinbase Exchange-backed Base Network has outshined Arbitrum Network and Optimism. Having ranked as the biggest Ethereum L2s for a long time, Base’s growth underscores the shifting momentum in the broader crypto ecosystem. IntoTheBlock ranked Base as the biggest winner among Ethereum L2s this year.

Base Network and the Sustained Ethereum L2 Rivalry

As presented by IntoTheBlock, Arbitrum, and Optimism had higher Total Value Locked (TVL) than Base at the start of the year. Onchain data shows that Arbitrum had a TVL of $2.906 billion as of January. Conversely, Optimism’s TVL comes in at $799 million with Base registering just $393.17 million.

As adoption grew on Base, the TVL saw a dramatic surge over the course of the year. By late March, Base Network flipped Optimism per TVL. The sustained adoption of Base, fueled by the emergence of memecoin culture on the platform also helped it flip Arbitrum in late September.

Base was the big L2 winner of the year, surpassing competing chains like Arbitrum and Optimism on TVL, active users, transactions and transaction volume

🔗https://t.co/7K38CEsn33 pic.twitter.com/tJvcACRkLz

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) December 17, 2024

While Base’s TVL has maintained an upward growth trajectory to date, Optimism and Arbitrum’s has remained relatively flat. Current data from DeFiLlama shows that Base now boast of $4.321 billion in Total Value Locked. On the contrary, Arbitrum and Optimism’s TVLs are now pegged at $3.861 billion and $843 million respectively.

Beyond the memecoin boom, institutions like Franklin Templeton also have tokenized funds hosted on Base, drawing from its low cost and faster speed.

The Future of Ethereum

The Ethereum protocol is evolving at a very fast pace with different upgrades coming up on the mainnet. Earlier in the year, the protocol activated more use cases for Ethereum L2 chains through the Dencun Upgrade. This network enhancement significantly reduced transaction costs making the Base protocol more attractive.

Additional enhancements like the incoming Pectra Upgrade is also bound to boost the network’s stability and scalability. This will further fuel the utilities of Ethereum L2 protocols like Base.

The Coinbase-backed protocol is already riding this wave with AI agents, the new blockchain sensation proliferating on the platform.