Ethereum is slowly losing its badge of being a pioneering smart contract blockchain due to some major technical drawbacks such as high transaction fees, network congestion and unease scalability. In such a situation, several alternate layer-1 blockchain networks have emerged to dominate the smart contract space. While Ethereum introduced some additional functionalities to first-generation blockchains like Bitcoin, the newly introduced alternate layer-1 blockchain networks are enabled with improved and enhanced infrastructures that give them an obvious edge over Ethereum.
Markets are rife with speculations that the ongoing bullrun of 2024 will bring exponential growth opportunities for crypto projects. In this blog, we will explore top layer 1 blockchains that have the potential to come out as a major hub for DeFi, smart contracts and other use cases.
What are the layer-1 blockchains?
Layer-1 blockchains are decentralized networks that do not depend on any other base-layer blockchain for its existence. These are standalone networks and they function independently of any other external resources unlike layer 2 (L2) blockchains that are deployed on top of other blockchain networks. Solana is a leading example of a popular layer 1 blockchain that has onboarded masses to the blockchain industry due to its fast, efficient and user-friendly features. Polygon, Arbitrum and OP on the other hand, are layer 2 blockchain networks that are developed by leveraging Ethereum’s core infrastructure.
5 Layer-1 Blockchains for 2024
Below are the top 5 layer-1 blockchains that could potentially break out as a market leader in smart contracts & DeFi domain.
1. Solana
Among the leaders, Solana stands out as the closest competitor to Ethereum. It was launched in March 2020 and has quickly become popular among cryptocurrency investors. Due to its high speed and quick transaction finality, Solana has captured a significant market within the DeFi space. The community of Solana is probably user-vise the biggest of all other communities in the crypto industry. Solana currently has a TVL of over $4.92 billion which peaked to its highest near $10 billion in November 2021, according to data from DeFiLlama.
- Solana TVL: $4.92 Billion
- Solana Market Cap: $81 Billion
- SOL Price: $178
Because of its high-end performance, Solana is potentialized to become a pioneer smart contract platform and outperform Ethereum in the upcoming time. As per Coinmarketcap data, Solana is currently the fourth largest blockchain network with a market cap of $81 billion and it is expected to reach $200 billion by the end of 2024.
2. Fantom
Fantom has recently come to the limelight once again after the announcement of Sonic upgrade. In the past bullrun of 2021, Fantom was considered Ethereum-killer due to its novel functionalities but unfortunately it caught up in the Terra crash and tanked along with other major DeFi projects. Once its TVL was at $7.8 billion which is now barely sitting near $150 million.
- Fantom TVL: $140 Million
- Fantom Market Cap: $2.36 Billion
- FTM Price: $0.84
However, Fantom is now expected to reclaim previous highs in the ongoing bullrun of 2024 or 2025. The Sonic upgrade will advance Fantom’s infrastructure with it becoming capable of processing over 2,000 transactions per second, 10 times higher than its current capability.
3. Sui
Sui was launched on mainnet in May 2023 and it is quite a new blockchain network than others. Within a year of its launch, Sui has managed to acquire a TVL of $752 million – according to DeFillama data. It is positioned among leading layer-1 blockchains that could potentially breakout in the upcoming months.
- Sui TVL: $752 Million
- Sui Market Cap: $2.57 Billion
- SUI Price: $1.10
As this bullrun is first for Sui, it is expected to reach exponential highs and mark a stronger presence for the future. The current market cap of Sui stands at $2.56 billion while it is expected to reach nearly $10 billion by the end of 2024.
4. Aptos
Aptos is one of the innovative blockchain projects that has amassed popularity within a year of its launch. The core team behind Aptos are ex-members of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project Libra, which had to shut down due to regulatory hurdles. The team decided to not give up on the development and started a separate project out of it that is now one of the leading blockchain in crypto space. Aptos has a fast, efficient and scalable blockchain infrastructure which could potentially grow wider in upcoming months.
- Aptos TVL: $383 Million
- Sui Market Cap: $3.9 Billion
- SUI Price: $9
With the market cap of $3.9 billion, Aptos (APT) is currently the 28th largest crypto asset. It has a TVL of $383 million which could reach over $1 billion over the next year. Many analysts have also suggested that Apots is currently at a phase where Solana was in the past bullrun.
5. Injective
Injective is a layer-1 blockchain that is built using Cosmos-SDK. Its claims to be specifically designed for finance with proposing robust scalability and interoperability. Injective has become one of the first choice IBC networks for developers who are looking to benefit with Cosmos’s interconnectivity blockchain infrastructure. The recent development under Ionic upgrade has enabled Injective to have seamless bridging from other layer-1 blockchain networks like Ethereum and Solana.
While having a bare TVL of $67 million, Injective is expected to attain massive gains as crypto market matures and onchain activity increases over next few months. It has a market cap of $2.56 billion that could reach over $10 billion by 2025.
- Injective TVL: $67 Million
- Injective Market Cap: $2.56 Billion
- INJ Price: $27.50
The above-listed layer-1 blockchain networks are potentialized to go through huge adoption and have wider user base. The predictions stated here are solely based on fundamental analysis and it could vary on the market dynamics.
While Bitcoin and Ethereum could have limited growth opportunities, those alternative layer-1 blockchain networks are likely to reach record highs in 2024. We have historically seen that low-cap blockchain projects benefit the most when the crypto market accelerates. While the users in the blockchain space often seek security, efficiency and economic benefits – the major liquidity rotation from Bitcoin or Ethereum could take place to one of the above-listed blockchains.
