|

$14.75 billion locked in Ethereum bridges, Polygon competes with Arbitrum, Optimism for dominance

  • Total value locked across Ethereum bridges hit a high of $14.75 billion as users continue exploring new blockchain systems.
  • DeFi incentive programs, liquidity mining rewards and regular upgrades in the Avalanche, Solana, Fantom and Harmony lure new DeFi projects.
  • Polygon network recently recommended a hike in transaction fees. 
  • The layer-2 scaling solution dominates others in terms of total value locked on its Ethereum bridge.

Nearly $15 billion worth of assets are locked on Ethereum bridges. Layer-1 and 2 scaling solutions are competing for dominance as Polygon leads the way. 

Polygon captures the highest share of total value locked on Ethereum bridges

Polygon Network, a layer-2 solution connecting Ethereum to other blockchains, recently recommended that validators raise transaction fees to tackle the spike in spam transactions. 

A blog post in Polygon’s forum, by co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, reads,

To reduce the number of spam transactions in the network, we are increasing the minimum gas price to 30Gwei from the current (default) value of 1Gwei for our foundation nodes. It’s just a recommendation to increase the gas price, but other validators are free to choose their own min gas price.

Following Polygon’s recommendation, there is a decline in its on-chain activity. Daily average transaction volume on Polygon is slashed from 6 million to 3 million, owing to a 2900% spike in fees. 

Polygon has maintained its dominance over Arbitrum and Optimism in terms of total value locked in Ethereum bridges despite the decline. The TVL of all Ethereum bridges sits at $14.75 billion based on data from crypto analytics platform Dune Analytics

TVL of Ethereum bridges since May 2021

TVL of Ethereum bridges since May 2021. 

The launch of incentive programs and liquidity mining rewards that attract both users and projects to the platform has played a vital role in the rise of the overall TVL of Ethereum bridges. 

A smart contract platform, Avalanche recently announced $180 million incentives for projects building on the AVAX network in a program called “Avalanche Rush.” Harmony protocol announced $4 million in incentives on SushiSwap, splitting half and half between liquidity mining and lending. 

Polygon needed to raise their gas fees and safeguard the network from being targeted by foul players. It ensures the long-term health and sustainability of the platform. Despite the fee hike, the network has maintained its dominance; traders expect a bullish impact on MATIC price. 

FXStreet analysts have evaluated the MATIC price trend and predicted a 55% rally in a bullish breakout. 

Author

Ekta Mourya

Ekta Mourya

FXStreet

Ekta Mourya has extensive experience in fundamental and on-chain analysis, particularly focused on impact of macroeconomics and central bank policies on cryptocurrencies.

More from Ekta Mourya
Share:

Markets move fast. We move first.

Orange Juice Newsletter brings you expert driven insights - not headlines. Every day on your inbox.

By subscribing you agree to our Terms and conditions.

Editor's Picks

Avalanche struggles near $12 as Grayscale files updated form for ETF

Avalanche trades close to $12 by press time on Wednesday, extending the nearly 2% drop from the previous day. Grayscale filed an updated form to convert its Avalanche-focused Trust into an ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bitcoin slips below $87,000 as ETF outflows intensify, whale participation declines

Bitcoin price continues to trade around $86,770 on Wednesday, after failing to break above the $90,000 resistance. US-listed spot ETFs record an outflow of $188.64 million on Tuesday, marking the fourth consecutive day of withdrawals.

Michael Selig assumes role as new CFTC Chair, what does this mean for crypto?

Michael Selig has been sworn in to serve as the 16th Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Selig was confirmed by the US Senate to head the commission last week, following his October nomination by the US President Donald Trump.

Crypto.com hires sports trader for event prediction market-making

Crypto.com plans to recruit a quant trader for the sports market-making team to buy and sell financial contracts related to these events. Opponents argue that internal trading desks put operators or their affiliates on the opposite side of customer trades. 

Orange Juice Newsletter – Smart insights by real people. Every day.

A free newsletter highlighting key market trends to help traders stay a step ahead. Daily insights on the most relevant trading topics, compiled by our experts in an easy-to-read format so you never miss an important move.

Bitcoin: Fed delivers, yet fails to impress BTC traders

Bitcoin (BTC) continues de trade within the recent consolidation phase, hovering around $92,000 at the time of writing on Friday, as investors digest the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) cautious December rate cut and its implications for risk assets.