Layer by Layer Issue 17: Fantom, Solana, Harmony, and NEAR

In 2021, the cryptocurrency world saw the rapid rise of alternative layer-1 networks positioned as direct competitors to Ethereum. As part of their growth, these L1s became focal points around which DeFi ecosystems could develop, with new protocols often forking established protocols from other chains in order to rapidly deploy and iterate in a nascent environment. Recently, these DeFi ecosystems have been emerging at an increasingly fast rate after mainnet deployment on both L1 and L2 networks. 

A key contributing factor to this trend is the growing number of EVM compatible mainnet deployments, which greatly simplifies the development process for projects already launched on Ethereum or another EVM. In fact, many of the fastest-growing ecosystems over the past few weeks have benefitted from EVM compatibility as users rush to be among the first to use these new networks. The pace of this adoption of EVM networks is further bolstered by the wide availability of bridges, which continue to serve as vital gateways for cross-chain asset transfers.