1️⃣Solana
Solana is winning the throughput and UX race, pulling billions in volume across DeFi, memecoins, and mobile. With Firedancer on the way and real consumer apps shipping, upside comes from both users and fees. If you want a network that can actually onboard the next million users, this is it.
- Blazing fast confirmations and low fees
- Exploding user growth across DeFi
- NFTs
- and memecoins
- Strong developer momentum and mobile push
- Upcoming Firedancer client as a major performance catalyst
- Growing fee revenue and real usage
- Deep liquidity on leading DEXs
- Occasional network congestion during peak mania
- Higher volatility than blue chip L1s
- Ecosystem still concentrated around a few hot narratives
2️⃣Chainlink
Chainlink powers price feeds and cross chain messaging for serious money. CCIP and real world assets bring institutional capital on chain, and staking adds yield plus alignment. As more banks and fintechs plug in, LINK becomes the toll road.
- Ubiquitous oracle infrastructure with entrenched moat
- CCIP adoption across chains for secure cross chain messaging
- Key real world asset partnerships positioning for institutional flows
- Staking with programmatic rewards
- Clear enterprise sales pipeline
- Battle tested reliability
- Token unlocks can pressure price during risk off
- Enterprise deals can take time to translate into token demand
- Not the highest beta in a raging bull
3️⃣EigenLayer
EigenLayer unlocks restaking so ETH security can secure new services, creating new yield streams. If AVSs gain traction, demand for restaked security and points can explode. Massive narrative, but contract and slashing risks are real.
- Category defining restaking narrative
- Multiple AVSs launching to drive fees
- Strong developer and VC backing
- Potential for stacked yields
- Complex risk model with potential slashing on multiple layers
- Smart contract and governance risk across AVSs
- Regulatory uncertainty around restaking rewards
- Fragmented UX for everyday users
4️⃣Celestia
Celestia is the modular data availability layer fueling a wave of rollups. As more app chains spin up, TIA captures demand for DA throughput. The bet is on modular scaling winning over monolithic L1s.
- First mover advantage in modular data availability
- Growing roster of rollups and app chains
- Clear usage linked token model
- Strong research pedigree
- Competing data availability options from Ethereum and others
- Token emissions can weigh on price in risk off periods
- Adoption depends on rollup teams shipping
- Fees and demand can be cyclical
5️⃣StarkNet
StarkNet brings zero knowledge proof scale with a Cairo based stack. If performance and liquidity improve, STRK can rerate as real apps land. Right now, it is still early for UX and throughput.
- Powerful zero knowledge tech with long term scalability
- Active grants and builder ecosystem
- Strong lineage from StarkWare and StarkEx
- Potential catalysts from throughput upgrades
- Current UX and fees can feel rough versus rivals
- Liquidity and user numbers lag top L2s
- Centralized sequencer and roadmap dependencies
- Cairo learning curve slows app portability