Furthermore, Merlin has emerged as the fastest-growing blockchain among the top 10 by Total Value Locked (TVL).
According to DeFiLlama, Merlin secured the 9th position among other chains in TVL, boasting the most impressive performance. In comparison, Ethereum, the leader in this ranking, experienced a modest increase of only 4.30%.
Ranking of chains by TVL. Source: DeFiLlama
Bitcoin is in second place in terms of growth after Merlin, with its TVL in the chain growing by 52.89% over the month. This surge could be attributed to the launch of the Runes protocol.
Base ranks third in growth, with its TVL increasing by 43.02% over 30 days to $1.594 million.
Why Is Merlin TVL Growing?
The nine protocols operate within Merlin, primarily focused on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending, and the cross-chain sector.
While the Solv Funds protocol holds the highest TVL in Merlin at $536.3 million, most of the growth came from Symbiosis.
Protocols that operate on Merlin. Source: DeFilLama
Symbiosis operates as a cross-chain protocol. DeFiLlama’s TVL surged by 392% in just one month. Surf Protocol follows closely behind in growth, securing second place with an increase of 307% in the last 7 days.
What Is Merlin?
Merlin is a new Layer 2 (L2) player for the Bitcoin (BTC) network. The project’s X page states that:
“To Make Bitcoin Fun Again”.
In simple terms, Merlin acts as a bridge between Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains. It utilizes ZK-rollup, decentralized oracles, and on-chain models to detect and prevent fraud.
Additionally, Merlin is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), providing access to the Ethereum ecosystem.
For instance, users can unstake Bitcoin to Layer 1, and claim BTC to Layer 2 through Merlin, facilitating seamless transitions between different blockchain layers.
Unstaking Bitcoin on the Merlin Chain is referred to as M-BTC.
Merlin recently completed its airdrop and mainnet launch phases. The token traded under the ticker MERL, is now available on exchanges like OKX, Gate, Bybit, and others.
However, it’s important to highlight that, as reported by CoinMarketCap, the value of MERL has declined significantly by 97.47% since the mainnet launch.
