Arbitrum Becomes Top Ethereum Bridge

Arbitrum, the top Ethereum bridge, has migrated over 46% of assets from Layer 1 (L1).

According to Token Terminal, Arbitrum is leading among other chains as an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) bridge.

In second place is OP Mainnet, more commonly known simply as Optimism. In third place is Base.

In fourth place is Blast, though some people consider the project a scam. The chart shows that Blast has almost caught up with Base.

Arbitrum is the top Ethereum bridge Layer 1. Source: Token Terminal

Arbitrum Leads in Transfer Volume

In addition to Arbitrum’s ambition to become the top Ethereum bridge, the blockchain is also leading the way in transfer volumes.

According to Token Terminal, on Jul. 13, the transfer volume of Arbitrum Bridge was $31.153 million, the highest among the others. Across is in second place with $13.425 million.

The dominance of Arbitrum has been observed among the other bridges since May. However, in June, Optimism Gateway overtook the main Ethereum bridge once.

On Jun. 14, the transfer volume of Optimism Gateway totaled $64.752 million, while Arbitrum’s was $25.803 million.

Bridge ranking by transfer volume. Source: Token Terminal

Prospects for Crypto Bridges in 2024

On Jun. 17, we wrote about how Arbitrum Bridge’s active users grew by 305.7% in one day. Perhaps one reason for this growth was the popularity of blockchain among decentralized games and the launch of the Gaming Catalyst Program (GCP).

Blockchain bridges are becoming increasingly popular in the crypto community. They are primarily needed for the development of decentralized finance (DeFi). Networks like Bitcoin, created before the development of DeFi, need an intermediary to transfer tokens.

One of the new projects among the bridges is LayerZero, which recently launched its token for trading on a crypto exchange. We also wrote about the Merlin project, which proposes to make Bitcoin available to DeFi.

According to DeFiLlama, bridges are one of the top DeFi categories for Total Value Locked (TVL). They are in third place in this ranking with $22.593 billion, behind liquid staking and lending.

DeFi category ranking by TVL. Source: DeFiLlama