The competition between Layer 1 (L1) smart contract platforms has been on the rise in the past couple of months as merchants and developers continue to embrace alternatives to the Ethereum (ETH) network that offer faster transaction times and lower fees.
According to a recent report from Delphi Digital, the price of Ether has remained relatively flat over the past month while competitors such as Solana (SOL) and Fantom (FTM) have seen their prices rise more than 200% during the same time.
One of the driving factors behind the rallies seen in Fantom (FTM), Avalanche (AVAX), and Terra (LUNA) is the fact that each has launched a variety of multi-million dollar funding initiatives designed to attract developers, investors, and new liquidity. Ecosystems.
These initiatives sparked a wave of new activity and cross-chain transfers from the Ethereum network to Layer 1 projects and so far, Solana has made the biggest gains.
When it comes to individual applications located in different blockchains, the avalanche-based Trader Joe’s DeFi protocol has seen the biggest gain in terms of TVL over the past seven days as the value locked on the protocol has increased by 57%.
Related: Redefining Finance: Tier Two Growth and the SEC Examination, September 19-23
Layer 2 platforms increase their gas consumption
It’s not just Ethereum’s Tier 1 competitors that have seen a slight increase in activity in the past few months. The launch of several new Layer 2 solutions and airdrops through the dYdX Decentralized Derivative Exchange (DYDX) increased gas consumption by Layer 2 protocols.
Data from Delphi Digital shows that the percentage of gas used by Layer 2 solutions is now above 1% after rising as much as 2% in early September.
DYdX was one of the first users of Layer 2 technology thanks to a collaboration with Starkware, and the protocol has seen a new level of activity in recent weeks following the release of an airdropped DYDX token on September 8 to users who previously used the protocol.
Since the release of airdrop, the volume of TVL locked to dYdX has increased from $422 million to $554 million, and the 24-hour training volume has increased from $700 million to $2.4 billion.
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