Public Chain Industry Review 2024: From Infrastructure Competition to Application Implementation

2024 marks an important turning point for the public blockchain industry, shifting the focus from technical competition to practical application implementation. In this year, the market capitalization of public blockchains grew by 105.3% to reach $2.8 trillion, with Bitcoin's price breaking $100,000 and achieving institutional adoption through ETFs. The Ethereum Layer 2 network expanded to over 200 chains, and the Bitcoin Layer 2 TVL increased by 1,277.6%. These developments indicate a transition of the industry from technical experimentation to real-world applications. The public blockchain industry is undergoing a gradual shift from being primarily driven by technological advancements to being primarily driven by application demands.

Market Dynamics: Growth and Transformation

The public blockchain industry achieved unprecedented growth in 2024, with multiple key indicators showing significant expansion.

The total market value of public chains increased by 105.3% to reach $2.8 trillion. Bitcoin's dominance rose to 69.8%, while Ethereum's share fell from 20.4% to 15.2%. Other platforms account for 8.1%.

The DeFi sector also demonstrated strong growth momentum in 2024, with a total locked value of ( TVL reaching $10.28 billion by the end of the year, an increase of 88.6% year-on-year. Among the top 10 public chains by TVL, Bitcoin and TON saw the most significant increases, both exceeding 2,000%. Aptos, Sui, and Solana also performed impressively, growing by 754.4%, 677.1%, and 321.3%, respectively. However, the TVL of Tron and Avalanche both experienced a decline.

The Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem 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 surprise of the year, jumping to second place with a TVL of $5.8 billion and a 22.5% share, while Optimism ranked third with a TVL of $4 billion and a 15.8% share. These three platforms together accounted for 79.1% of the Ethereum L2 DeFi TVL, while previous competitors like Blast, zkSync, and Starknet saw declines in their market shares.

Meanwhile, the ecosystem scale continues to expand, with 50 Rollups and 70 Validiums & Optimiums currently running on the mainnet, along with about 90 chains set to go live, bringing the total number of Ethereum L2s to over 200.

The Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechain ecosystem has experienced explosive growth, with a total locked value (TVL) reaching 2.6 billion USD, a substantial increase of 1,277.6% compared to 2023. Core leads with a TVL of 790 million USD, capturing 30.3% market share ), followed by Bitlayer with 1.5 billion USD and a 19.4% share (, and BSquared with 1.3 billion USD, holding a 12.7% share ). This growth is reflected not only in the TVL but also in the number of active chains, which has more than doubled over the year, now totaling nearly 20 chains.

Competitive Landscape: Leaders and Challengers

In 2024, the competitive landscape of the public chain ecosystem has changed significantly, mainly characterized by the strengthening of Bitcoin's dominance, the revival of Solana, and the rise of emerging challengers.

( Bitcoin: From Store of Value to Financial Infrastructure

Bitcoin achieved outstanding growth in 2024, with a price increase of 129.2% and a market capitalization growth of 131.7%. This growth was driven by institutional adoption of spot ETFs, the halving event in April, and positive sentiment following the U.S. elections. In addition to breaking the $100,000 price milestone, there are two key developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem:

Institutional Adoption: The successful issuance of spot ETFs in January has completely changed the institutional access landscape, with a certain product's scale rapidly reaching $20 billion. Bitcoin has surpassed silver and Saudi Aramco to become the seventh-largest asset globally, marking a shift from a speculative asset to a recognized store of value.

The rise of BTCfi: The Bitcoin ecosystem has achieved expansion beyond price growth through innovative financial products. Babylon's Bitcoin staking project, cross-chain solutions, and Core's Fusion upgrade all showcase an increasingly mature ecosystem. Cross-chain functionality has made progress through the integration of the BOB network with a certain platform and the "Super Bitcoin" framework of BEVM, although standardization still faces challenges.

) Ethereum: Layer 2 Drives Ecological Evolution

2024 is a crucial year for Ethereum's transformation into a Layer 2-centric ecosystem. Despite a price increase of 55.8% to $3,744, Ethereum faces complex challenges in repositioning its role and maintaining relevance amidst the growth in Layer 2 adoption. The successful issuance of a spot ETF in July received some degree of institutional recognition, but Ethereum's price performance has clearly lagged behind that of Bitcoin.

The Ethereum mainnet has achieved significant changes through the "Cancun upgrade", successfully reducing Layer 2 transaction costs and improving scalability. However, the migration of activities to Layer 2 has led to a decline in transaction fee revenue for Ethereum itself, raising discussions about the long-term sustainability of Ethereum. The Ethereum Foundation has responded with several initiatives, including the implementation of Proto-Danksharding(EIP-4844), developing cross-L2 communication standards, and strengthening security requirements for Layer 2 solutions.

The Layer 2 ecosystem has shown significant growth and integration throughout the year. Noteworthy newcomers have enriched the ecosystem, including World Chain, a DEX's Unichain, and Sony's Soneium. This evolution highlights Ethereum's transition from a pure execution layer to a diversified Layer 2 ecosystem provider of settlement and security. While questions remain regarding revenue models and competitive dynamics, Ethereum's ongoing development in developer activity and innovation in scaling solutions demonstrates its adaptability.

( Solana: The Third Giant

2024 witnessed a strong comeback for Solana, with a price increase of 70.8% and a market cap growth of 90.9%. In November, the coin price broke through $260, setting a new historical high. This revival began with the Jupiter airdrop in January, and the Solana ecosystem has been exceptionally active. Solana has established itself as a retail trading hub, nurturing a vibrant meme and DeFi community. Besides meme culture, Solana has made progress in several areas: re-staking protocols, modular Layer 2 solutions, and stablecoin innovations. The ecosystem has further extended its influence through the expansion of SVM chains like Eclipse, Soon, Atlas, and Sonic.

) The Rise of Emerging Forces: TON, Sui, and Base

TON: A social integration driven platform for growth

The Open Network ( TON ) showed significant growth in 2024, with Toncoin's price rising by 149.6% and market capitalization increasing by 84.3%. The success of TON is mainly attributed to its deep integration with Telegram, effectively bridging the gap between traditional social networks and blockchain technology. The platform simplifies the crypto experience through the Telegram wallet feature and blockchain integration, providing millions of users with easy access to gaming, memes, and DeFi applications, establishing a model for mass adoption.

Sui: From Move Language Pioneer to Ecosystem Leader

Sui has shown remarkable performance, with the token price soaring by 461.6% and a market cap increase of 1,363.8%. This success reflects the market's confidence in the development of Move language technology and ecosystem. Sui focuses on the DeFi and gaming sectors, including the integration of Telegram games and the innovative development of the SuiPlay0X1 gaming console, showcasing its comprehensive layout for ecosystem growth. The platform's emphasis on user experience and protocol development has created positive network effects, attracting joint participation from developers and users.

Base: Institutional background driving rapid growth

The significant growth of Base is driven by several key factors. A trading platform has significantly lowered the entry barrier for mainstream users through its user-friendly smart wallet. The platform has gained substantial momentum from successful social applications like friend.tech and Clanker, while the popularity of memecoins has further boosted activity on the Base chain. The implementation of the "Cancun Upgrade" has significantly reduced transaction fees, continuously enhancing Base's appeal to developers and users.

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Major Trends in the Public Chain Industry in 2024

( New chains are emerging one after another

In 2024, project parties are launching their own public chains one after another. The DeFi giant DEX announced Unichain; the gaming platform Treasure DAO developed a ZK-based Layer 2; in the NFT field, Pudgy Penguins launched Abstract; and the Web3 platform Galxe introduced Gravity. Moreover, the entry of innovative new chains like Monad, Berachain, and HyperLiquid reflects the transformation of the public chain industry towards specialized blockchain infrastructure.

) Institutional Adoption: From Exploration to Strategic Integration

The way institutions participate has changed

2024 marks a decisive shift in institutional adoption from experimental blockchain initiatives to strategic implementations. Financial institutions are leading this transformation, with a certain ETF rapidly reaching $20 billion in scale, and a certain payment platform expanding PYUSD to Solana. Tech giants showcase deeper involvement through innovative means: Sony launches the Soneium chain for entertainment applications, while a certain cloud service provider expands its Web3 portal services. Infrastructure development is particularly noteworthy, with a certain stablecoin issuer launching native USDC on Sui and a certain payment company integrating Solana for settlement.

Change in Institutional Investment Paradigm

The public blockchain sector is showing a strong recovery in 2024, with 174 financing events raising a total of $1.7 billion, an increase of 137.1% compared to last year. Notably, institutional investment strategies have shifted from pure infrastructure to application-oriented innovations. Early-stage investment events account for 21.4% of the total financing events, while Series A and B rounds make up 31.8%, reflecting a maturing ecosystem.

The investment philosophy of venture capital has undergone a significant evolution, prioritizing user-facing applications over traditional infrastructure development. This is reflected in the large investments in consumer-facing projects: Monad raised $225 million to optimize user experience, while Celestia and Berachain each secured $100 million for application-oriented infrastructure.

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( From technical competition to application innovation

The public chain industry underwent a fundamental shift in 2024, transitioning from a technology-driven to an application-driven strategy. This shift challenges the previous industry dominant mindset of "build first, users will naturally come." Despite significant improvements in technical capabilities, the increased network capacity has not directly translated into corresponding user growth. For example, although "hardware" is limited, the Ethereum base layer has a "users processed per second" that surpasses most Layer 2s, highlighting the complex relationship between technical capability and actual adoption.

This reality prompts the ecosystem to make a strategic shift. Blockchain platforms are increasingly focusing on identifying specific user needs and building targeted solutions, rather than merely pursuing pure technological advancement. This "finding users before building" approach is reflected in several successful initiatives. The integration of social finance has become a particularly effective strategy, with TON's Telegram integration and Base's friend.tech demonstrating how familiar social platforms can drive blockchain adoption. By simplifying the user experience through account abstraction and familiar authentication methods, the entry barrier for mainstream users has been significantly lowered.

The evolution of meme culture in the blockchain space further reflects this shift towards application-oriented development. Initially pure speculative activities have evolved into effective user acquisition channels, particularly on platforms like Solana and Base. These networks have successfully leveraged meme-related initiatives to drive ecosystem growth while fostering sustainable community engagement. The success of these user-centric approaches indicates that sustainable growth in the blockchain space increasingly relies on understanding and serving user needs, rather than purely advancing technological capabilities.

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Outlook for 2025

As the blockchain industry shifts from technological experimentation to practical implementation, 2025 is expected to be an important year of transformation.

) Regulatory Clarity

The regulatory environment shows significant hopes for improvement, especially in the United States. A clearer regulatory framework is expected to benefit the entire industry, particularly with the progress in stablecoin legislation. This regulatory clarity will promote institutional adoption of blockchain through an increase in regulated products and services, while also facilitating various jurisdictions.