Layer by Layer Issue 9: Solana, Terra, Cosmos, and Binance Smart Chain

One of the most notable trends in the past year to date has been the flow of capital from Ethereum to other blockchain ecosystems alongside the overall growth of the crypto market. The emergence of these alternative layer 1 chains can be observed clearly when looking at the total value locked (TVL) in smart contract platforms over the past year.

At the beginning of 2021, the largest competitor to Etheruem’s Defi dominance was Binance Smart Chain, then with a TVL of $278M, compared to Ethereum’s $16.9B at the time. This represented only about 1.6% of TVL in smart contract platforms. Over the past 10 months, this landscape has changed significantly, with layer 1 smart contract platforms, sans Ethereum, accumulating $46.4B in aggregate TVL, compared to Ethereum’s $74.7B. As of this writing, TVL in the major layer 1 ecosystems represents about 38.3% of total TVL in smart contract platforms, a nearly 24X jump since the beginning of the year.