Layer 1 blockchains are at the heart of the current crypto bull run. Since January 2024, their value has surged by a staggering 7,000%, reaching a combined market cap of over $2.8 trillion as of Nov. 29, according to CoinGecko data. This growth follows Donald Trump’s election victory, which seems to have reignited enthusiasm in the crypto space.
Bitcoin, the dominant L1, holds nearly 70% of the market share and recently hit a new all-time high of $99,600 on Nov. 22, now trading at $98,300. Ethereum, crucial for decentralized applications, has gained over 34% and is trading at $3,630. Solana reached an all-time high of $263.83 on Nov. 23 and is currently at $244 with a 40% monthly gain. Cardano has seen an impressive 200% surge in the past month, now trading at $1.09. Emerging platforms like Hedera and Mantra have also performed exceptionally well, with gains of 220% and 138% respectively. In contrast, Binance Coin has lagged behind with only a 10% gain in the last 30 days.
Total value locked (TVL) is a key metric to assess L1 blockchains’ performance. Ethereum leads with over $70 billion in TVL as of Nov. 29, a 44% increase from Nov. 5. Solana’s TVL has climbed over 50% to $9.17 billion, close to its 2021 high. Cardano’s TVL has hit an all-time high of around $619 million, while Binance Smart Chain has seen more modest growth to $5.57 billion.
In the fee race, Solana outperformed Ethereum in November 2024, with $7.4 million in daily fees compared to Ethereum’s $6.19 million. Tron and Binance Smart Chain followed with $2 million and $680,000 respectively. Ethereum’s fee decline is due to the growth of layer 2 and 3 solutions and waning retail interest.
Looking at the dApp ecosystem, Ethereum dominates in transaction volume with $175 billion across 4,844 dApps, but has only 1.76 million unique active wallets. BNB Chain is retail-friendly with 2.41 million unique active wallets and $38.2 billion in volume. Solana has high engagement with 113.66 million unique active wallets but a relatively low total transaction volume. Tron specializes in stablecoin transfers, and Cardano’s dApp ecosystem is growing but still in its infancy.
The current bull market has shown the strengths and vulnerabilities of L1 blockchains. Scalability and attracting developers are key challenges ahead. Whether this bull run leads to a transformative era or is just another phase in crypto’s journey depends on how these platforms adapt to meet global demands.
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