Top 15 Layer-1 Blockchains to Watch in 2025: Who is Leading the Next Bull Market?

Layer-1 blockchains remain the cornerstone of the crypto ecosystem. From Bitcoin’s pioneering to Ethereum’s prosperity, and now to the rise of new high-performance chains, competition among Layer-1 projects is becoming increasingly fierce. We have selected 15 noteworthy Layer-1 networks, combining the latest market data and ecological developments to help you seize investment opportunities.

The Battle for High Performance: Solana vs Avalanche vs Kaspa

Solana (SOL) still maintains its position as the “Speed King.” Using an innovative Proof of History consensus mechanism, SOL has become the developer’s first choice due to its ultra-low transaction fees and astonishing throughput. Latest data shows SOL’s current price at $121.63, a -38.49% increase over one year, with a circulating market cap of $68.44B, remaining in the top five by market value. Since 2023, the Solana ecosystem has seen several highlights: the Firedancer upgrade is expected to significantly improve validator performance, Helium integration demonstrates its strong ecological capacity, and airdrops of tokens like BONK have ignited market enthusiasm. Jupiter, as a DeFi hub, further consolidates Solana’s infrastructure advantage through collaborations with Google Cloud and AWS.

Avalanche (AVAX) stands out with its unique consensus mechanism—combining Classical and Nakamoto consensus—achieving finality in under 2 seconds. AVAX’s latest price data is pending update, but its ecosystem performance is impressive: C-Chain transaction volume hit new highs, the ASC-20 inscription craze drove over 2.3 million transactions per day, and network fee income reached $13.8M in just five days. The partnership with J.P. Morgan’s Onyx also marks Avalanche’s move toward institutional-grade applications.

Kaspa (KAS) is an emerging dark horse in the public chain space, utilizing the GHOSTDAG consensus mechanism to achieve second-level finality. KAS’s latest price is $0.04, with a -62.62% change over one year, and a market cap of $1.20B. From migrating from GoLang to Rust, launching high-performance mobile wallets, to maintaining a PoW + Smart Contracts route, Kaspa demonstrates its commitment to becoming a “fast, scalable, secure” Layer-1.

Digital Gold and Innovative Applications

Bitcoin (BTC) remains the unshakable value anchor. Current price is $87.06K, down -12.58% over one year, with a circulating market cap of $1738.46B. The 2023 Bitcoin Ordinals protocol has spurred the birth of an NFT ecosystem (ORDI, SATS tokens), while Layer-2 solutions like Stacks and Taproot Assets have injected smart contract capabilities into BTC, making the DeFi ecosystem on Bitcoin highly anticipated.

The Open Network (TON) separated from Telegram in 2020 due to regulatory issues but has been revitalized under the push of the TON Foundation and NewTON community. The latest price is $1.52, down -74.45% over one year, with a market cap of $3.74B. In March 2024, Telegram announced that 50% of ad revenue would be distributed to channel owners via the TON blockchain in Toncoin, turning TON’s value proposition from theory into reality. The potential IPO of Telegram also fuels market expectations.

The Future of Computation and Interoperability

Internet Computer (ICP) aims to “re-invent the internet.” ICP’s latest price is $3.00, down -73.18% over one year, with a market cap of $1.64B. WebSocket integration, stable memory expansion, direct interoperability with Bitcoin, and SNS-supported DAO governance are expanding ICP’s capabilities as a decentralized cloud computing platform. The DFINITY Foundation’s ecosystem grant program is attracting more developers.

Polkadot (DOT) proved the value of multi-chain interoperability in 2023. DOT’s latest price is $1.71, down -77.28% over one year, with a market cap of $2.81B. The launch of Nomination Pools increased staking by 49%, and the Polkadot 2.0 white paper’s promises of scalability, governance, and interoperability upgrades are prompting industry reevaluation of this multi-chain hub.

Cosmos (ATOM) enables true cross-chain communication via the IBC protocol. ATOM’s latest price is $2.02, down -70.86% over one year, with a market cap of $979.02M. Interchain Security enhances the security of small chains, while upgrades like Interchain Accounts and Liquid Staking (Rho) enrich the Cosmos ecosystem. The Interchain Foundation’s $26.4M investment in 2024 indicates more exciting developments ahead.

DeFi-Specific Chains and Emerging Forces

Sei (SEI) is a Layer-1 built for DeFi. SEI’s latest price is $0.11, down -76.00% over one year, with a market cap of $710.13M. Its unique advantages include chain-level order book optimization and a native matching engine. The growing $120M ecosystem fund is attracting more trading applications.

Sui (SUI) and Aptos (APT) both use the Move programming language, emphasizing security and developer experience. SUI’s latest price is $1.39, down -69.19% over one year, with a market cap of $5.18B; innovative features like zkLogin are improving user privacy. APT, supported by parallel execution engines and strategic partners like Microsoft and Coinbase, is opening new avenues in gaming and entertainment.

Exchange Ecosystem and Cross-Chain Hubs

BNB Chain (BNB) remains one of the most active public chains. BNB’s latest price is $828.50, up +17.89% over one year, with a market cap of $114.11B. Over 1300 active DApps, lower transaction fees, and compatibility with Ethereum tools make it a top choice for developers and users. The 2024 Layer-2 integration and potential sharding will further enhance performance.

Ethereum (ETH) continues to be the absolute leader in DeFi. ETH’s latest price is $2.92K, down -16.65% over one year, with a circulating market cap of $352.80B. The maturity of Layer-2 solutions (Rollups) and the full transition to Ethereum 2.0’s pure PoS solidify its infrastructure position.

Ecosystem Features and Differentiation

Kava (KAVA) stands out with its “cross-chain” architecture (Cosmos SDK + EVM compatibility). KAVA’s latest price is $0.08, down -84.34% over one year, with a market cap of $81.28M. The Kava 14 upgrade introduced USDt minting on Cosmos, and the fixed supply cap of KAVA Tokenomics 2.0 is reshaping investor perceptions of this chain.

ZetaChain (ZETA) is a pioneer in “full-chain” interoperability. ZETA’s latest price is $0.07, down -88.99% over one year, with a market cap of $79.42M. Supporting smart contract execution across over 100 blockchains, deploying 200+ testnet DApps, and strategic partnerships with Ankr and The Sandbox are validating the feasibility of full-chain DeFi.

The Symbiotic Relationship Between Layer-1 and Layer-2

Layer-1, as the foundational layer, ensures security and decentralization, while Layer-2 provides scalability and speed on top. Their relationship is not substitution but complementarity—Layer-1 innovations (like Ethereum’s sharding) can enhance Layer-2 performance, and mature Layer-2 solutions can optimize Layer-1 architecture.

Starting in 2024, we will see more fierce competition among Layer-1 projects in high performance, interoperability, and developer experience. Whether it’s Solana’s speed, Polkadot’s interoperability, or Bitcoin’s security, each blockchain is vying for developers and users with unique value propositions. In this blockchain war, there are no absolute winners—only evolving ecosystems and increasingly rich application scenarios.

Further Reading

• Latest developments in Layer-2 scaling solutions
• Security analysis of cross-chain protocols
• Comparative performance of DeFi ecosystems across different Layer-1s
• Investment strategies for the blockchain ecosystem in 2025