Key Highlights
- NEAR, in a frenzy of digital footwork, leapt 158% in transactions, leaving others gasping in its wake-though revenue remains a shy whisper.
- Plasma (+28%), Aptos (+22%), Ethereum (+10%), and Stellar (+14%) waltzed through growth, each with their own choreography of use cases.
- Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism handled millions like they were sorting laundry, while Layer-1s sipped tea and watched congestion fade.
The blockchain’s Layer-1 realm, once a slumbering beast, now stirs with vigor, its transactions surging like spring thaw-proof that engagement is not a mirage, but a real estate boom.
Top chains by transaction growth over the last 7 days:
1️⃣ @NEARProtocol: +158%
2️⃣ @Plasma: +28%
3️⃣ @aptos: +22%
4️⃣ @stellarorg: +14%
5️⃣ @ethereum: +10%NEAR’s in turbo mode. The rest aren’t far behind.
– Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) December 29, 2025
Nansen’s data, that digital oracle, whispers of a renaissance: Layer-1 chains blooming with double-digit growth, their adoption as thorny as a rose in bloom.
NEAR Protocol: The Protagonist of This Saga
NEAR Protocol, that digital Don Quixote, charges forth with a 158% surge in transactions. Active addresses? They multiply like rabbits, yet its economic output remains a timid shadow-$3,998 daily revenue, a pittance for such grandeur.
DeFiLlama’s numbers reveal $140.12 million locked in NEAR’s DeFi, a treasure chest with a leaky lid. Growth, it seems, is a symphony played on a kazoo.
A Chorus of Chains
NEAR is not alone in this opus. Plasma pirouettes with 28% growth, Aptos with 22%, while Ethereum, the old patriarch, still holds court with 10%-its legacy etched in ink and gas fees.
Stellar, that cross-border bard, hums a 14% tune. BNB Chain and Solana, the high-throughput twins, process transactions in the millions, their throats sore from singing the hymns of scalability.
Layer-2: The Stagehands
Layer-1s are the playwrights; Layer-2s are the stagehands, sweating through the scenes. Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism handle transactions like jugglers at a circus, reducing congestion while keeping Layer-1s in the spotlight.
- Base: 1.93M addresses, 67.37M transactions (a crowd at a Black Friday sale).
- Arbitrum: 849K addresses, 13.7M transactions (a cozy dinner party).
- Polygon: 6.02M addresses, 44.46M transactions (a full stadium).
- Optimism: 145K addresses, 12.68M transactions (a niche poetry slam).
These networks, like understudies, steal the show only to bow and hand the stage back to Layer-1s-because nothing says “security” like a blockchain’s mainnet.
Why Layer-1 is Back in the Limelight
The surge? A confluence of scaling, efficiency, and applications that don’t just send coins but build empires.
Scaling and Efficiency
Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade-December 3, 2025-was a blockbuster, slashing L2 fees and raising gas limits like a director cutting a budget. Solana, meanwhile, hums along at 6,000-10,000 TPS, a metronome of efficiency.
BNB Chain’s Lorentz upgrade? A magician’s trick, halving block times and fees. All this, and the network still hasn’t learned to say “no” to congestion.
Diverse Applications
Transactions are no longer just coin flings. DeFi vaults, NFT galleries, and cross-chain bridges turn blockchains into digital metropolises. Even stablecoins, those stoic bankers, now dance to the rhythm of real-time payments.
Layer-2 Integration
Layer-2s, the unsung heroes, process 85% of Ethereum’s transactions, their names whispered like incantations. zkSync Era? It’s grown from a whisper to a roar, proving that sometimes, the understudy becomes the star.
The Future: A Ballet of Chains
The ecosystem is evolving, a pas de deux between Layer-1s and Layer-2s. Ethereum, NEAR, Solana, and BNB Chain are building economies; Layer-2s are their partners in crime, ensuring the tango doesn’t end in a gas fee fiasco.
As 2026 looms, the blockchain’s future glimmers with scalability and security-a tale as old as time, retold in code and consensus. But remember, darling: even a blockchain can’t escape the tax season.
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2025-12-30 16:23