Lisk is a Layer-2 (L2) network built on Optimism’s infrastructure, designed for scalability and efficiency. Lisk initially operated as a Layer-1 blockchain. However, in 2024, the project transitioned into a Layer-2 solution on Ethereum rather than incorporating Ethereum compatibility into its Layer-1. This shift provided users and developers access to Ethereum’s extensive ecosystem and popular EVM-based tools. Today, Lisk stands as the third-largest RaaS (Rollup-as-a-Service) chain within Optimism’s Superchain network. Lisk L2 focuses on using blockchain to improve everyday life, addressing real-world and off-chain assets, and decentralized infrastructure in emerging markets. In addition to scalability and security, Lisk also offers interoperability and developer friendliness. Through partnerships with Across, LayerZero, Hyperlane, and others, Lisk enhances cross-chain messaging and bridging for applications.

Total supply: 400,000,000 LSK

• 6% LSK: Airdrops
• 4% LSK: Liquidity & Market Making
• 3% LSK: Ecosystem Fund
• 10% LSK: Staking Rewards
• 18% LSK: DAO Fund
• 41% LSK: 10 Year DAO Fund (Community Vote)
• 3% LSK: Team
• 3% LSK: Treasury
• 12% LSK: Strategic Investors

Arbitrum is a Layer 2 solution built to enhance Ethereum’s smart contracts by improving their speed and scalability while introducing additional privacy features. It enables developers to run unmodified Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) contracts and transactions on a secondary layer, all while leveraging Ethereum’s robust Layer-1 security. Arbitrum’s story began with Offchain Labs, a venture company founded in Princeton by three experts in cryptography with over five years of blockchain research and development experience. The beta version of Arbitrum One launched in May 2021, followed by significant investments and the mainnet release in August of the same year.

Arbitrum operates as an optimistic rollup and is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), supporting programming languages like Solidity, Vyper, Flint, and more. Arbitrum features a thriving ecosystem with over 500 dApps and a large user base actively interacting with the network. Additionally, Arbitrum offers low transaction fees and high throughput of up to 40,000 TPS, as demonstrated in tests, making it an efficient and cost-effective choice for developers and users alike. 

Total supply: 10,000,000,000 ARB

• 35.28% ARB: ArbitrumDAO Treasury
• 26.94% ARB: Team and contributors
• 17.53% ARB: Investors
• 11.62% ARB: Users of platform via airdrop
• 7.50% ARB: Arbitrum Foundation
• 1.13% ARB: DAOs building on Arbitrum via airdrop

Optimism is a Layer-2 solution for Ethereum used to increase transaction speed, reduce costs, and improve scalability. Optimism was founded in 2019 by three blockchain and Ethereum experts: Carl Flourish, a former Ethereum Foundation researcher; Jinglan Wang, a key contributor to the optimistic rollup solution; and Kevin Hoe, a computer science engineer specializing in digital media design. Optimism uses optimistic rollups, bundling transactions into a single Layer-1 execution while inheriting Ethereum’s security. The ‘optimistic’ model assumes transactions are correct unless disputed, enabling fast and efficient transaction handling. 

Optimism also boasts the Superchain Ecosystem, built on the OP Stack, which is a horizontally scalable network of interconnected chains. It provides unified security, decentralized governance, seamless upgrades, and a unified communication layer. Optimism’s Superchain aims to create a network of connected Layer-2 chains, making it easy for new chains with specific purposes to join, while focusing on growing an open-source L2 ecosystem. Using the Superchain, popular blockchains such as Lisk, Mode Network, Base, Fractal, and others have been built. The project’s ecosystem includes over 300 dApps, with an average transaction fee on the OP Mainnet of less than $0.1.

Total supply: 4,294,967,296 OP 

• 25% OP: Ecosystem Fund
• 20% OP: Retroactive Public Goods Funding (RetroPGF)
• 19% OP: User airdrops
• 19% OP: Core contributors
• 17% OP: Sugar xaddies

Polygon PoS is a Layer-2 project developed as a scalability solution for Ethereum. The project was initially founded in 2017 as Matic Network by three Indian developers: Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun, who aimed to address Ethereum’s scalability issues. In February of the same year, the project underwent a rebranding to the widely known Polygon. Polygon operates as a sidechain with a Proof of Stake protocol, functioning as an independent blockchain alongside Ethereum. Unlike rollups, Polygon has its own consensus mechanism, validators, and a token (POL, formerly MATIC) for gas payments, which are key characteristics of a sidechain. The commit chain groups transactions into clusters, processes them together, and sends data back to Ethereum, allowing Polygon to scale efficiently.

Regarding the ecosystem, Polygon hosts over 3,000 dApps and offers extremely low transaction costs, with an average of less than $0.015 per transaction, which is about 10,000 times cheaper than on the main Ethereum network.

Total supply: 10,300,000,000 POL (ex. MATIC).

• 12.00% MATIC: Allocated to Staking Rewards
• 23.33% MATIC: Allocated to the Ecosystem
• 21.86% MATIC: Allocated to Foundation
• 4.00% MATIC: Allocated to Advisors
• 16.00% MATIC: Allocated to the Team
• 3.80% MATIC: Allocated to Private Investors
• 19.00% MATIC: Allocated to Binance Launchpad

Mantle Network is a Layer-2 blockchain built on Ethereum and stands as the first blockchain created and governed through a DAO. BitDAO, where the story of Mantle begins, was established on August 3, 2021, by the Bybit exchange. It became one of the largest decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), governed by holders of its native token, $BIT. The primary goal of BitDAO was to provide financial support to developers in the DeFi sector and empower their initiatives.

Sometime later, with the support of BitDAO, a project called Mantle Network was launched. On May 12, 2023, an on-chain vote was initiated to approve the rebranding and subsequent merger of Mantle and BitDAO. The vote passed with overwhelming support (235 million votes in favor). Since then, the projects have undergone a gradual integration process, which is now complete, with BitDAO rebranded as Mantle Governance. 

In contrast to traditional monolithic blockchains, where transaction execution and consensus occur at the same layer, Mantle uses a modular design. It combines Optimistic Rollups with an advanced data availability solution via EigenLayer. This architecture significantly reduces network load, gas fees, and ensures better scalability. Mantle is actively supported by major exchanges like Bybit, and its native token (MNT) is integrated into various products to enhance utility. Additionally, the Mantle ecosystem includes over 250 decentralized applications.

Total supply: 6,219,316,794 MNT

• 49% MNT: Mantle Treasury
• 51%: Circulating

Immutable, founded in 2018 by James Ferguson, Robbie Ferguson, and Alex Connolly, is a Sydney-based company with over 240 experts on its team. Its key product, Immutable X, is Ethereum’s first Layer 2 scaling solution for NFTs. It enables instant trading, high scalability, and zero gas fees for minting and trading while maintaining strong security for users and assets. Powered by StarkWare’s advanced STARK prover and rollup technology, Immutable X is a cutting-edge solution for scaling NFTs. Zk-STARKs let Immutable X prove transactions are valid without sharing the details, ensuring privacy and security. Transactions are grouped, sent as proofs to the blockchain, and verified quickly using smart contracts that store the details on Layer 2.

Immutable X’s rollup technology enables more than 9,000 NFT transactions, trades, and mints per second, effortlessly meeting the demands of major NFT projects. Renowned GameFi projects like Gods Unchained and Illuvium, along with over 250 games onboarded in 2024 and NFT marketplaces such as TokenTrove and AtomicHub, leverage Immutable X technology.

Total supply: 2,000,000,000 IMX

• 51.72% IMX: Ecosystem development
• 25% IMX: Project development
• 13.86% IMX: Private sale
• 5.42% IMX: Public sale
• 4% IMX: Foundation reserve

Starknet is a Layer-2 blockchain on Ethereum, focused on scaling. The history of Starknet began with Starkware, a company founded by Eli Ben-Sasson in 2018 in Israel. Starkware focuses on blockchain technology development and is one of only six companies that managed to secure investments from Vitalik Buterin, the founder of the widely-known Ethereum blockchain.

Starknet operates as a ZK Rollup utilizing STARK technology. In ZK-Stark, all transactions can be processed off-chain. After processing, cryptographic proofs are generated and verified on the Ethereum mainnet. This technology significantly reduces the load on the Ethereum network, increasing transaction speed and significantly lowering costs. Starknet boasts a vast ecosystem with hundreds of applications, including integrations with three major Liquidity Staking Tokens (LSTs). Moreover, with the launch of the first phase of native token STRK staking, the network now features over 90 unique validators, over 100 million tokens staked, and supports more than 50,000 delegators.

Total supply: 1,000,000,000 STRK

• 20.04% STRK: Early Contributors
• 18.17% STRK: Investors
• 10.76% STRK: StarkWare
• 12.93% STRK: Grants including Development Partners 
• 9.00% STRK: Community Provisions
• 9.00% STRK: Community Rebates
• 10.00% STRK: Foundation Strategic Reserves
• 8.10% STRK: Foundation Treasury
• 2.00% STRK: Donations

The Lightning Network is a Layer-2 solution for Bitcoin, designed to enable efficient and instant Bitcoin transactions. The history of the Lightning Network began in 2015 when Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja introduced the project’s white paper. Three years later, in 2018, Lightning Labs officially launched the Lightning Network.

The Lightning Network improves scalability and efficiency by consolidating numerous microtransactions into a single on-chain transaction, reducing network traffic and freeing up space for larger, high-priority transactions. By enabling transactions and settlements off-chain, it ensures faster processing speeds while maintaining the security of on-chain enforceability. Payments are routed through a secure network of two-party ledgers, using smart-contract scripts to enforce atomic transactions, ensuring that each payment either fully succeeds or fails. This approach allows for high-speed, high-volume transactions without burdening the main blockchain.

Lightning Network does not have a native token.