Layer 2 / L2 Sub-Sectors
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EVM Wars: Between Giga Gas and Giga Gimmicks
By
Anil Lulla•
EVM chains have forever been optimizing for scalability but have always lagged behind alt VM chains like Solana, Sui, and Aptos when it comes to throughput and latency. But now we have a lineup of several EVM L1s and L2s that are breaking past 10,000 (Theoretical TPS) and reaching beyond 100,000 (TTPS) with milliseconds block times. Most chains are scaling their giga gas/s, choosing a more capable DA layer, and optimizing their DB for improved state access and controlled state growth.

MegaETH: Performance to Compete With TradFi
By
Anil Lulla•
History suggests that markets often favor solutions that deliver tangible value, even when they involve calculated trade-offs. The success of Solana, despite initial centralization concerns, shows how performance and practical utility can drive substantial activity when aligned with market needs. MegaETH's approach on serving performance-sensitive applications, combined with its curated ecosystem of ambitious builders, is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in crypto.

Exploring Base's Role in the Growing Onchain Economy
By
Anil Lulla•
This report dives into the recent growth of the onchain economy as of October 2024, and analyzes several use cases behind that growth, including stablecoins, layer 2s (L2s), collectibles, social media, gaming, DeFi, and institutional adoption. Overall, the data is clear: the onchain economy is growing rapidly.
This report also dives into the recent growth of Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) incubated by Coinbase which has since seen significant growth since it launched its mainnet on August 9, 2023.
"Base is a secure, low-cost, builder-friendly Ethereum L2 built to bring a billion users, and a million developers onchain, with an ecosystem of onchain applications."
In the ~1 year the chain has been live, it has positioned itself at the forefront of the L2 space. During this time, the Base team has contributed to several onchain advancements: driving rollup transactions to sub-cent fees through EIP-4844, creating smart wallets to ease account abstraction, contributing to the Superchain stack, and plenty more. Daily transactions on Base are up 1,600% since the start of January, ascending from 372,000 to over 6.63M in October. Across many of the metrics analyzed, Base is growing faster relative to the total onchain economy, such as TVL, active addresses, and transactions.
The growth of the onchain economy extends beyond financial speculation. 66% of all active onchain applications are non-DeFi, such as gaming, social, and digital collectibles. DeFi apps account for 33% of onchain apps on major networks.
With new use cases continuing to emerge, and developers and users continuing to come onchain, the onchain economy is poised to accelerate in the coming months and years.

Transaction Ordering Policies & Value Accrual in L2s: Timeboost, OP PGA, Fastlane, and OEV Network
By
Anil Lulla•
The report examines Arbitrum's proposed transaction ordering policy, Timeboost, which aims to enhance value capture while protecting users from negative aspects of miner extractable value (MEV) behavior. It compares Timeboost with other mechanisms such as Optimism’s Priority Gas Auction (PGA), FastLane on Polygon, and API3's OEV Network.
Timeboost introduces an auction system where participants can bid for faster transaction inclusion in an express lane, promoting competitive bidding based on predictions rather than just speed. This contrasts with Arbitrum's current First Come, First Serve (FCFS) system, which can lead to spam and congestion.
The report details how each mechanism affects value capture and user experience, emphasizing that auction design significantly influences the distribution of generated value. It concludes by noting that Timeboost can maintain fast block times and protect users from harmful MEV behaviors while allowing proceeds from the auctions to support Arbitrum's DAO treasury.

Solana the Modular
By
Anil Lulla•
As a follow up to last year's "Solana the Monolith", this report explores Solana's evolving role in the modular landscape, highlighting its transition from a highly integrated system to one where its core components, particularly the SVM, are being leveraged across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and beyond.
We dive into the decoupling of the SVM, its impact on existing ecosystems, and the rise of Solana's L2 solutions. These L2s, coupled with new additions for zk-proof verification and interoperability, represent a new wave of modularity on Solana, pushing its boundaries.
The report also examines Solana Permissioned Environments (SPEs) as a strategic move toward institutional adoption, offering compliance and customization for regulated entities. Finally, we explore Solana's role as a shared sequencer for EVM rollups and its potential to enhance cross-chain interoperability.

Fuel Network: Redefining Scalability for Modular Blockchains
By
Anil Lulla•
Discover how Fuel, a first-of-its-kind rollup OS, addresses the challenges of scalability, state growth & inefficient virtual machine architectures. This report explores Fuel virtual machine’s solutions, such as parallel transaction execution, state minimization techniques, and advanced interoperability features. These innovations aim to enhance user experience and developer efficiency. Learn how FuelVM and its unique UTXO model can redefine Ethereum rollups, promising a high-performance, decentralized network that meets the evolving demands of Ethereum’s Modular roadmap and opens new design possibilities for application developers.
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