Best Layer-2 Crypto Projects for 2025: The Top Picks
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Sending a transaction or interacting with dApps on the Ethereum mainnet could be pretty expensive, couldn’t it?
With Layer 2 blockchains, however, you can reduce fees by dozens or even hundreds of times. Layer 2 is a scaling solution for blockchains that processes transactions off the main chain to improve speed, reduce costs, and increase scalability. In this article, you will discover a list of Layer 2 blockchains that you can compare to choose the best ecosystem for your needs.
11 results found
Summary of the Best Crypto Layer-2 Blockchains
 Base | N/A | 237.13 Million | 13.59 Billion | ~1,500 | Base Website |
 X Layer | OKB | 1.34 Million | $34.8 Million | N/A | X Layer Website |
 Arbitrum | ARB | 43.39 Million | ~$19.06 Billion | 40,000 | Arbitrum Website |
 Optimism | OP | 181 Million | $7.12 Billion | 714 | Optimism Website |
 Polygon PoS | POL | 219.11 Million | ~$3.72 Billion | 7,200 | Polygon PoS Website |
 Polygon zkEVM | N/A | 706.041K | $79.52 Million | 40,000 | Polygon zkEVM Website |
 Immutable X | IMX | 11.6 Million | ~$91.72 Million | 9,000+ | Immutable X Website |
 Lightning Network | N/A | N/A | 473.14 Million | 1,000,000 | Lightning Network Website |
 Loopring | LRC | 230K | $57.20 Million | 2,025 | Loopring Website |
 Mantle Network | MNT | 9.9 Million | ~$2.00 Billion | 500 | Mantle Network Website |
 Starknet | STRK | 4.82 Million | $909.17 Million | 1000+ | Starknet Website |
What is a Layer-2 blockchain?
A Layer-2 solution is built on top of a Layer-1 blockchain to boost transaction speed and lower gas fees. These solutions have become especially important and gained popularity among users and developers as they address the scalability issue of Layer-1.
For example, Ethereum, as a Layer-1 blockchain, can process only 20-40 transactions per second, which under high load can make transactions expensive and slow. In contrast, a Layer-2 blockchain like Arbitrum can maintain transaction costs of just a few cents, even under heavy traffic. It offloads some tasks, like checking transactions and storing data, to an off-chain layer, which helps ease the workload on the main network.
What makes blockchain transactions expensive?
Let’s dive into an example with Ethereum. Ethereum can be slow and expensive because of how it’s designed. Every computer (or node) in the network has to process all the transactions in its history to stay in sync. This keeps Ethereum decentralized and open for anyone to run a node, but it also limits how many transactions it can handle at once. When the network gets busy, it can take longer to process transactions, and fees go up because people compete to get their transactions through faster. This trade-off helps keep Ethereum secure and fair but makes it harder to scale.
Conclusion
In recent years, Layer-2 blockchains have made a profound impact on the crypto industry, significantly scaling Layer-1 networks and driving the growth of diverse ecosystems. They have enhanced interoperability between different blockchains, enabling communication and supporting the rise of thousands of decentralized applications. This article has introduced you to the top Layer-2 solutions, including their core principles, key advantages, and important performance metrics.
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