2024 marks an important watershed in the public chain industry, with the industry's focus shifting from technological competition to practical application implementation. During this year, the market value of the public chain increased by 105.3% to US$2.8 trillion, the price of Bitcoin exceeded US$100,000, and institutional-level adoption was achieved through ETFs, the Ethereum Layer 2 network expanded to more than 200 chains, and Bitcoin Layer 2 TVL grew by 1,277.6%, both demonstrating the industry's shift from technological experimentation to practical real-world applications. The public chain industry is undergoing a gradual transformation from focusing on technology-driven development to focusing on application demand-driven development.
Note: Unless otherwise stated, all data in this report are as of December 20, 2024.
The public chain industry will achieve unprecedented growth in 2024, with many key indicators showing significant expansion.
The total market value of public chains increased by 105.3% to reach US$2.8 trillion. Bitcoin dominance rose to 69.8%, while Ethereum’s share fell from 20.4% to 15.2%. The shares of BNB chain and Solana were stable at 3.5% and 3.3%, while other platforms accounted for 8.1%.
The DeFi sector also showed strong growth momentum in 2024, with total lock-in volume (TVL) reaching US$102.8 billion at the end of the year, a year-on-year increase of 88.6%. Among the top 10 public chains ranked by TVL, Bitcoin and TON experienced the most significant increases, both exceeding 2,000%. Aptos, Sui and Solana also performed well, growing 754.4%, 677.1% and 321.3% respectively. But both Tron and Avalanche experienced a decline in TVL.
The Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem has experienced significant centralization in 2024. Arbitrum maintained its lead 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, jumping into second place with $5.8 billion TVL (22.5% share), while Optimism ranked third with $4 billion TVL (15.8%). Together, these three platforms account for 79.1% of Ethereum L2 DeFi TVL, while previous competitors such as Blast, zkSync, and Starknet have all lost market share.
At the same time, the scale of the ecosystem continues to expand. Currently, 50 Rollup and 70 Validium & Optimium are running on the main network. Together with about 90 upcoming chains, the total number of Ethereum L2 exceeds 200.
Bitcoin Layer 2 and side chain ecology have experienced explosive growth, with the total locked-up volume reaching US$2.6 billion, a significant increase of 1,277.6% compared to 2023. Core leads the way 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 not only reflected in TVL, but the number of active chains has also more than doubled throughout the year, with nearly 20 chains now.
In 2024, the competitive landscape of the public chain ecosystem will change significantly. is changing, mainly reflected in the increasing dominance of Bitcoin, the resurgence of Solana, and the rise of emerging challengers.
Bitcoin has achieved excellent growth in 2024, with a price increase of 129.2% and a market capitalization increase of 131.7%. This growth was driven by a combination of institutional adoption of spot ETFs, the April halving event, and positive post-election sentiment in the US. In addition to surpassing the $100,000 price milestone, there are two major key developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem:
Institutional adoption increases: Spot ETFs in January The successful issuance of BlackRock completely changed the institutional access landscape, with the scale of BlackRock's products quickly reaching US$20 billion. Bitcoin has surpassed silver and Saudi Aramco to become the seventh-largest asset in the world, marking a shift from a speculative asset to a recognized store of value.
BTCfi Rise: The Bitcoin ecosystem expands beyond price growth through innovative financial products. Babylon’s Bitcoin staking project, Solv Protocol’s cross-chain solution, and Core’s Fusion upgrade all demonstrate an increasingly mature ecosystem. Cross-chain capabilities are making progress through the BOB Network’s integration with Optimism and BEVM’s “Super Bitcoin” framework, among others, although standardization still faces challenges.
2024 is a critical year for Ethereum to transform into a Layer 2 central ecosystem. Despite a 55.8% price increase to $3,744, Ethereum faces complex challenges in repositioning its role and staying relevant amid growing Layer 2 adoption. The successful launch of a spot ETF in July gained some institutional recognition, but Ethereum's price performance has significantly lagged Bitcoin's.
The Ethereum mainnet has achieved important changes through the "Cancun Upgrade", successfully reducing Layer 2 transaction costs and improving scalability. However, the migration of activity to Layer 2 has led to a decline in Ethereum’s own fee revenue, sparking discussions about Ethereum’s long-term sustainability. The Ethereum Foundation has responded through multiple initiatives, including implementing Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844), developing cross-L2 communication standards, and strengthening security requirements for Layer 2 solutions.
The Layer 2 ecosystem demonstrated significant growth and consolidation throughout the year. Notable new entrants enriching the ecosystem include World Chain, Uniswap’s Unichain, and Sony’s Soneium. This evolution highlights Ethereum’s transformation from a pure execution layer to a settlement and security provider for a diverse Layer 2 ecosystem. While questions remain about the revenue model and competitive dynamics, Ethereum’s continued growth in developer activity and scaling solution innovation demonstrates its ability to adapt.
2024 The year witnessed Solana’s strong comeback, with the price increasing by 70.8% and the market value increasing by 90.9%. In November, the currency price exceeded US$260 and hit a record high. This renaissance began with the January Jupiter airdrop, with Solana ecosystem activity at an all-time high. Solana has established itself as a hub for retail trading, cultivating a vibrant meme and DeFi community. Beyond meme culture, Solana is making progress in multiple areas: restaking protocols, modular Layer 2 solutions, and stablecoin innovation. The ecosystem further extends its reach through the expansion of SVM chains such as Eclipse, Soon, Atlas, and Sonic.
The Open Network (TON) Shows Significant Growth in 2024, Toncoin Price It rose 149.6%, and its market value increased 84.3%. TON's success mainly stems from its deep integration with Telegram, effectively building a bridge between traditional social networks and blockchain technology. The platform simplifies the crypto experience through Telegram wallet functionality and blockchain integration, providing millions of users with easy access to games, memes, and DeFi apps, establishing a model for mass adoption.
Sui performed well, with the token price soaring 461.6% and the market value increasing 1,363.8%. This success reflects the market’s confidence in the development of Move’s language technology and ecosystem. Sui focuses on the DeFi and gaming fields, including Telegram game integration and the development of the innovative SuiPlay0X1 game console, demonstrating its comprehensive layout for ecosystem growth. The platform's emphasis on user experience and protocol development creates a positive network effect, attracting the participation of developers and users.
Base's significant growth is driven by several key factors. Coinbase significantly lowers the barrier to entry for mainstream users through its user-friendly smart wallet implementation. The platform gained substantial momentum from successful social apps like friend.tech and Clanker, while the popularity of memecoin further boosted Base on-chain activity. The implementation of the “Cancun Upgrade” significantly reduces transaction fees, making Base increasingly attractive to developers and users.
In 2024, project parties will launch their own public chains one after another. DeFi giant Uniswap announced Unichain; gaming platform Treasure DAO developed ZK-based Layer 2; the NFT space saw Pudgy Penguins launch Abstract; Web3 platform Galxe launched Gravity. Not only that, the entry of innovative new chains such as Monad, Berachain and HyperLiquid reflects the transformation of the public chain industry into professional blockchain infrastructure.
2024 marks a decisive shift in institutional adoption from experimental blockchain initiatives to strategic implementation. Financial institutions are leading the transformation, with BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF quickly reaching $20 billion and PayPal expanding PYUSD to Solana. Tech giants are showing deeper involvement through innovative ways: Sony launched its Soneium chain for entertainment applications, while Google Cloud expanded its Web3 portal service. Infrastructure developments are particularly notable, with Circle launching native USDC on Sui and Visa integrating Solana for settlement.
Public chain The field showed a strong recovery in 2024, with 174 financing events raising a total of US$1.7 billion, an increase of 137.1% over last year. Notably, institutional investment strategies are shifting from pure infrastructure to application-oriented innovation. Early-stage investment events accounted for 21.4% of the total number of financing events, while Series A and B rounds accounted for 31.8%, reflecting the growing maturity of the ecosystem.
The investment philosophy of venture capital has evolved significantly, prioritizing user-facing applications over traditional infrastructure development. This is reflected in large investments in consumer-facing projects: Monad raised $225 million to optimize user experience, and Celestia and Berachain each received $100 million for application-oriented infrastructure.
The public chain industry has experienced a fundamental change in 2024, from technology Dominate the shift to application-driven strategies. This change challenges the "build first, and users will come naturally" thinking model that previously dominated the industry. Despite significant improvements in technical capabilities, increased network capacity has not directly translated into corresponding user growth. For example, despite “hardware” limitations, the Ethereum base layer has higher “users per second” (UOPS) than most Layer 2s, highlighting the complex relationship between technical capabilities and actual adoption.
This reality has prompted a strategic shift in the ecosystem. Blockchain platforms are increasingly focused on identifying specific user needs and building targeted solutions, rather than pursuing pure technological advancement. This "find users and then build" approach has been reflected in multiple successful initiatives. Social finance integration emerged as a particularly effective strategy, with TON’s Telegram integration and Base’s friend.tech demonstrating how familiar social platforms can drive blockchain adoption. Simplifying the user experience through account abstraction and familiar authentication methods significantly lowers the entry barrier for mainstream users.
The evolution of meme culture in the blockchain space further reflects this shift toward application-oriented development. What started as pure speculation evolved into an effective user acquisition channel, especially on platforms like Solana and Base. These networks successfully leverage meme-related initiatives to drive ecosystem growth while building sustainable community engagement. The success of these user-centric approaches demonstrates that sustainable growth in the blockchain space increasingly relies on understanding and serving user needs rather than purely advancing technical capabilities.
Supervision The environment shows promise for significant improvements, especially in the United States. A clearer regulatory framework is expected to benefit the entire industry, especially the progress of stablecoin legislation. This regulatory clarity will facilitate increased blockchain adoption by institutions through regulated products and services, while promoting competition among jurisdictions in crypto regulation.
Public chain Specialization has become the dominant trend, moving from general-purpose Layer 1 competition to specific purpose-oriented architectures. With the support of cross-chain infrastructure, the application of specialized chains and optimized execution environments will gain great development. The “Rollup as a Service” (RaaS) field is expected to expand, providing enterprises and projects with more convenient customized blockchain solutions.
2025 In 2019, technological innovation will shift from pure breakthroughs to application-oriented infrastructure upgrades. The implementation of Proto-Danksharding will double the Blob capacity and push Layer 2 expansion into a new stage; the development of chain abstraction technology will bring a more intuitive user experience; the standardization of cross-chain communication will simplify interoperability.
At the infrastructure level, we expect to see more development driven by real demand. The modular blockchain technology stack will mature, providing specialized solutions for data availability, settlement and execution layers. It is worth noting that the deep integration of AI technology and blockchain will reshape the infrastructure: from improving user interfaces to implementing complex on-chain AI agents, from decentralized model training to supporting social financial integration, these innovations will While maintaining security and decentralization, it provides support for more complex application scenarios and lays a solid foundation for the next round of blockchain innovation.
The past year has proved that, Sustainable growth depends not only on technical capabilities but also on meaningful user adoption and real utility. With increased regulatory clarity, advances in technology infrastructure, and increased institutional participation, the foundations are in place for meaningful mass adoption of blockchain technology. The shift in focus from "what's technically possible" to "what's practically valuable" will define the next phase of industry growth in 2025.
The content of this article is only for industry research and communication and does not constitute any investment advice. The market is risky and investment needs to be cautious.
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