📖
Web3 Encyclopedia
  • Welcome aboard!
  • Source
  • 😀Evolution from Web 1.0 to Web 3.0
    • Web 1.0 Web 2.0 Web 3.0
    • Key Features
    • Current Limitations
    • Future of Web 3.0
    • Learn: What Is Web3?
    • Learn: Will Every Brand Have a Web3 Strategy?
    • Learn: Big Ideas in 2023
    • Learn: The Web3 Paradox: Why Scaling Usage Alone Won't Lead to Mass Adoption?
    • Learn: Is Web3 A Marketing Buzz or Tech Revolution?
    • Learn: What is the relationship between blockchain and Web3?
    • Learn:Empowering Women in Web 3.0: The Role and Contributions of Women in Blockchain, DeFi, and dApp
    • Learn: Web 3.0 and the Future of E-Commerce
    • Learn: 12 ways ecosystem projects can attract more developers
    • Learn: How Web3 is Impacting Education?
    • Learn: Web3 And The Future Of Digital Advertising
    • Learn: Web3’s impact on personalization, trust and engagement
    • Learn: Web3-Powered Identity Management -- Unlocking the Benefits of Decentralization
    • Learn: Why Web2 companies fail in Web3 while others made it?
    • Learn: To Identify or Not in a Web3 World?
    • 🤫[Insider Series] McKinsey x Web3
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 💲Blockchain Fundamentals
    • Why is Blockchain So Popular?
    • Introduction to Blockchain
    • Blockchain Misconceptions
    • Blockchain vs Bitcoin, Database, Cloud
    • Consensus Mechanism
    • Public and Private Keys
    • Hash Functions and Cryptography
    • Sharding
    • Types of Blockchains: PoW, PoS and Private
    • Understanding Cryptocurrency
    • Coins vs Tokens
    • Blockchain Trilemma
    • Legality
    • Learn : Google’s Cloud Based Blockchain Node Service
    • Learn: How Blockchain, Digital assets, and Web3 Unlock Financial Inclusion Globally
    • Learn: Will Chinese-Made Crypto Soar Higher?
    • Learn: What Does MiCA Mean for Crypto in Europe?
    • Learn: Unraveling the Intricacies of Blockchain Forensics and Asset Tracking
    • Learn: Promising blockchain use cases in healthcare industry
    • Learn: The Role of Blockchain in Authenticating and Provenance Art
    • Learn: Blockchain-Based Digital Identity: Benefits, Risks, and Implementation Challenges
    • Learn: The Future of Energy Supply Chains
    • Learn: Revolutionizing smart contracts and cryptocurrency
    • Learn: Nigeria goes blockchain
    • Learn: A Game Changer for Online Gaming?
    • Learn: Is blockchain technology ready for high-storage applications?
    • Learn: Will Blockchain Technology Mark a Turning Point in Fraud Prevention?
    • Learn: Why ZK-rollups need data availability?
    • Learn: How will generative AI disrupt blockchain?
    • Learn: A New Blockchain for Generative AI?
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 🏟️Web3 Utilities
    • Decentralized Applications (dApps)
    • Cross-chain Bridges
    • DAO
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Learn: Is Community-building Essential for Web3 Startups?
    • Learn: ‘Decentralization Theater’
    • Learn: Crypto and AI- A yay or nay combination?
    • Learn: Dissecting the DAO
    • Learn: What is motivating Lido DAO to rise?
    • Learn: How to Turn Your Community Into a DAO?
    • Learn: The Key to Decentralized Decision Making
    • Learn: How Web 3.0 can disrupt the supply chain industry?
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 🪙Bitcoin
    • What is Bitcoin
    • Bitcoin's Blockchain Technology
    • UTXO Model and Transaction Fees
    • Bitcoin Mining and Mempool
    • Learn: What is bitcoin mining?
    • What are Hard Forks and Soft Forks
    • What is SegWit and the Lightning Network
    • Bitcoin Ecosystem
    • Can Bitcoin be Destroyed? Game Theory and Network Attacks
    • Learn: Crypto token supplies explained
    • Learn: What is crypto tax-loss harvesting, and how does it work?
    • Learn: Can Crypto Go Green? How to Invest in Eco-Friendly Cryptocurrencies
    • Learn: Why Did FTX Collapse? Here’s What to Know.
    • Learn: How Sam Bankman-Fried swindled $8 billion in customer money?
    • Learn: How much is Bitcoin worth today?
    • Learn: The Costs of Running a Bitcoin Node In Nigeria
    • Learn: Has 2022 Left Any Crypto Positives?
    • Learn: How Crypto Exchanges Can Be Free of Risk?
    • Learn: Greed, Lies and FTX: Is Crypto a Force for Good or Evil?
    • Learn: Is Crypto a Cultural Movement?
    • Learn: What are the consequences of crypto’s ongoing regulatory process?
    • Learn: Beyond the Crash and Embracing NFTs?
    • Learn: Understanding crypto bag holders and their mindset
    • Learn: Inscriptions: Just A Fad, Or A Real Threat To Bitcoin Becoming Decentralized Money?
    • Learn: How Bitcoin Ordinals Can Change the Future Of Mining?
    • Learn: What is a supernet?
    • Learn: Bitcoin Miners Celebrate 10 Years Since First ASIC, What Changed Since Then?
    • Learn: Bill Vs. CBDC – Why This US Congressman Wants To Block The Fed From Issuing A Digital Dollar?
    • Learn: Why Bitcoin Will Blow People’s Minds In 2025?
    • Learn: How the Howey Test Sheds Light on Cryptocurrency's Regulatory Gray Area
    • Learn: Cryptocurrency vs AI: A Complex Debate
    • Learn: Where the U.S. Government Went Wrong in Regulating Crypto?
    • Learn: The Nostr Privacy Paradox
    • Learn: Do algorithmic stablecoins have a future as centralized coins are under scrutiny?
    • Learn: Is Bitcoin Set To Revolutionize The Financial World With Its Superior Purchasing Power?
    • Learn: What is Shibarium, and what does it mean for Shiba Inu?
    • Learn: What is a crypto dusting attack?
    • Learn: Is the Adoption of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) the Future?
    • Learn: How Artificial Intelligence Could Revolutionize Crypto?
    • Learn: What’s next for EU’s crypto industry as European Parliament passes MiCA?
    • Learn: Why the EU Has MiCA and the U.S. Has Securities Law Confusion?
    • Learn: Six New Projects Looking to Mitigate Bitcoin Mining’s Energy Footprint
    • Learn: Who on Crypto Twitter chose not to pay for a blue checkmark?
    • Learn: What is the wash-sale rule in Crypto?
    • Learn: What is Pepecoin and can it flip memecoins Dogecoin and Shiba Inu?
    • Learn: Can you recover stolen Bitcoin from crypto scams?
    • Learn: What the ‘anti-mining bill’ means for the crypto industry in Texas?
    • Learn: Does the US have a crypto ‘tax loophole’ problem?
    • Learn: How users can stay protected?
    • Learn: How Crypto Revolutionize Cheaper and Faster Transactions?
    • Learn: Can NFTs and CFDs be BFFs?
    • Learn: A PR expert’s tips for memecoin projects
    • Learn: Why politicians aren't convinced about the Digital Euro?
    • Learn: How A 90-Year Old TA Theory Predicted The Sudden Bitcoin Boom?
    • Learn: Social Trading Platforms and CFDs: A New Paradigm in Investment
    • Learn: How could the Chinese economic crisis impact Bitcoin and crypto?
    • Learn: How do they compare: Bitcoin IRA vs. traditional IRA?
    • Learn: Why Tokenized Assets Are Safer During a Banking Crisis?
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 🛢️Ethereum
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • What can Ethereum do?
    • What is Ether (ETH)?
    • What's Unique About ETH?
    • What are Smart Contracts?
    • Energy Consumption?
    • Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
    • Pros & Cons of Smart Contracts
    • Decentralized Applications (dApps)
    • Ethereum Token Standards (ERC-20, ERC-721 and ERC-1155)
    • Evolution of Ethereum
    • How to Get Your First Ethereum
    • Learn: Next Ethereum Upgrade — Shanghai Upgrade
    • Learn: Tipping Scale for Crypto Adoption: Usability vs. Accessibility
    • Learn: Major Publicly Traded U.S. Bitcoin Miner Files For Chapter 11 – Impact On The Market?
    • Learn: 5 altcoin projects that made a real difference in 2022
    • Learn: How Tether Can Be a More Stable Stablecoin?
    • Learn: Are the Ethereum Killers Still Deadly?
    • Learn: What Ethereum Tech Trends Are Weathering the Bear Market?
    • Learn: How Ethereum’s token burns are making it a deflationary cryptocurrency?
    • Learn: A few things to know about Ethereum's Shanghai Upgrade
    • Learn: The Role of Enterprise Ethereum
    • Learn: Understanding Layer 2 Scaling Solutions for the Ethereum Network
    • Learn: The Battle of Giants: Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Learn: Cryptography, Smart Contracts and Distributed Networks
    • Learn: The Memecoin Grift and How It Threatens Ethereum Culture
    • Learn: What Is Ethereum’s ‘Data Availability' Problem, and Why Does It Matter?
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 👛Wallet
    • What is a Blockchain Wallet?
    • Hardware / Software Wallet
    • How to Get Your First Cryptocurrency
    • Setting up Metamask Wallet
    • Learn: How to connect the Avalanche network to MetaMask?
    • Learn: How to pass on your crypto when you die?
    • Learn: What are hierarchical deterministic (HD) crypto wallets?
    • Learn: Pros and Cons of Digital Wallets
    • Learn : How Web 3.0 Wallets Are Redefining Digital Asset Security?
    • Learn: Open source: Buzzword or real security for crypto wallets?
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 🌕New & Rising Protocols
    • Binance
    • NEAR
    • Solana
    • Fantom
    • Polygon
    • Cardano
    • Polkadot
    • Cosmos
    • Harmony
    • Cronos
    • Optimism
    • Terra
    • Who Will Win the L1 Wars?
    • Learn: New Layer 1 Blockchains Are Expanding the DeFi Ecosystem But No Eth Killers Yet
    • Learn: Is an Increased Focus on Layer-2 Scaling and ZK Technology Justified?
    • Learn: What Are the Stakes in the SEC vs. Ripple Case?
    • Learn: What is The Graph, and how does it work?
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 📈Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
    • CEX vs DEX
    • CeFi vs DeFi
    • Algorithmic Stablecoins
    • Airdrop
    • Liquidity Pool
    • Impermanent Loss
    • Swapping
    • Wrapped Token
    • Arbitrage Opportunities
    • Staking
    • Yield Farming
    • Total Value Locked (TVL)
    • Gas Fees
    • Lending & Borrowing
    • Useful Tools
    • Activity: Uniswap & Pancake Swap
    • Learn: Automated Market Makers (AMMs) in DeFi
    • Learn: Crypto Moving towards ESG: What Is Regenerative Finance (ReFi)
    • Learn: What Is dYdX? Understanding the Decentralized Crypto Exchange
    • Learn: It's A Wrap - DeFi in 2022
    • Learn: Why DeFi should expect more hacks this year?
    • Learn: The Security Challenges of DeFi
    • Learn: The Promising Future of Decentralized Social Media on Web 3.0
    • Learn: Can CBDCs, Tokenized Deposits, Stablecoins and DeFi Coexist?
    • Learn: The Increasing Popularity of DeFi and Its Potential to Disrupt Traditional Finance
    • Learn: The future of DeFi is ReFi
    • Learn: DeFi aggregation
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 🙈Non-Fungible Token (NFT)
    • What are NFTs?
    • Case Study
    • Storage
    • Who are the Players?
    • NFT Marketplace
    • NFT Useful Resources
    • Activity: Mint Your Own NFT
    • Learn: How You Can Prevent Hackers From Stealing Your NFTs?
    • Learn: What Is an NFT Floor Price?
    • Learn: Should Bored Ape buyers be legally entitled to refunds?
    • Learn: China’s view of NFTs different from rest of the world’s
    • Learn: NFTs IRL: How Digital Collectibles Are Forging Offline Experiences
    • Learn: How NFT Brands Can Cut Through The Noise
    • Learn: How Web3 disrupts the music sector?
    • Learn: Unlockable content in NFTs
    • Learn: Why Meta Matters in NFTs?
    • Learn: Should NFT Marketplaces Become Centralized?
    • Learn: Hermès vs. MetaBirkins: The NFT Case That Could Have Major Trademark and Artistic Consequence
    • Learn: What are phygital NFTs, and how do they work?
    • Learn: What is NFT ticketing and how does it work?
    • Learn: Why Solana NFT marketplace is seeing less active users?
    • Learn: NFTs and Intellectual Property
    • Learn: How AI Is Changing Artistic Creation and Challenging IP Laws?
    • Learn: The Future of NFTs: Exploring Dynamic NFTs and Their Versatile Use Cases
    • Learn: NFTs in the event and ticketing industry
    • Learn: What is NFT rarity, and how to calculate it?
    • Learn: What happens to your NFTs when you die?
    • Learn: Dogecoin-Like Spike in Milady NFTs After Elon Musk’s Tweet, But Will It Last?
    • Learn: What are NFT royalties, and how do they work?
    • Learn: How developers aim to store crypto inside NFTs?
    • Learn: Generative Art NFTs: What Are They & Why Are They So Popular?
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 💗Metaverse
    • What is the Metaverse?
    • Metaverse Economy
    • Metaverse Companies
    • GameFi
    • Learn: Are We in the Metaverse Yet?
    • Learn: Can the Metaverse exist without blockchain?
    • Learn: Can the Metaverse Facilitate Sustainable Growth of Defi Systems?
    • Learn: What is the role of biometrics in the metaverse?
    • Learn: Can metaverse be the future court?
    • Learn: Metaverse Fashion Is on the Rise, but for Whom?
    • Learn: Sustainability in the Metaverse: Challenges and Opportunities
    • Learn: How To Build A Responsible Metaverse?
    • Learn: What is a VTuber, and how do you become one?
    • Learn: How proof-of-identity provides human experiences?
    • Learn: The “Metaverse” Next Frontier for Business: Impact And Challenges
    • Learn: The 5 Biggest Misconceptions About The Metaverse
    • Learn: Why culture and ownership are critical to the metaverse?
    • TL;DR 👀
  • 👾Career in Web3 (coming soon)
    • Developers
    • Moderators
    • Community Managers
    • UI/ UX Designers
    • Digital Fashion Designers
  • 🌱Sustainability (Coming Soon)
    • Industry Effort
    • Co-author
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  • NEAR vs. SOL vs. FTM: Which is the most decentralized?
  • Who is winning the L1 wars?
  • Conclusion: Near vs SOL vs FTM
  1. New & Rising Protocols

Who Will Win the L1 Wars?

PreviousTerraNextLearn: New Layer 1 Blockchains Are Expanding the DeFi Ecosystem But No Eth Killers Yet

Last updated 2 years ago

The Wars is a reference to competing proof-of-stake () blockchains such as Near Protocol (), Solana (), and Fantom () vying for the top position to replace Ethereum ().

To understand why this matters, we have to rewind history. The proof-of-stake revolution was a response to the high power requirements of the original proof-of-work (PoW) consensus protocol, which the first two cryptocurrencies Bitcoin () and Ethereum run on.

Ethereum, the first-ever programmable blockchain that enabled to be built on top of its network, soon became a victim of its own success. The network wasn’t built to scale, and as transactions piled up, users had to pay outrageous to trade on-chain.

With the benefit of hindsight, new protocols such as Near Protocol, Solana and Fantom started building blockchains that were more scalable and energy efficient; transacting on any of these costs less than a cent.

There are slight variations in the speed and toolset required for users. However, the difference between NEAR, SOL and FTM is miniscule compared with other earlier blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Near Protocol is an L1 blockchain that first emerged in 2018 and was initially designed with the intention of providing higher throughput, faster speeds, , and compatibility.

NEAR was one of the first chains that implemented the '' technique, which is a revolutionary PoS method for blockchain scaling. Using sharding, all transactions on the blockchain are split into chunks known as 'shards'. This ensures that blocks reach finality in less than two seconds. The consensus mechanism on NEAR is called 'Nightshade'.

The development of NEAR is spearheaded by a called 'Near Collective' comprising a sizable community of developers and researchers. The sharding-based consensus mechanism allows NEAR to scale to infinite levels without becoming congested. One of the main advantages it has is that the network is constantly stable and rarely experiences downtime.

NEAR was initially not EVM () compatible. An EVM-compatible network can interact with existing Ethereum tooling such as and users only have to change the RPC settings to use it. This was changed with the introduction of 'Aurora', which provides EVM compatibility and faster finality. Developers can now port over their tokens to the NEAR blockchain using Solidity programming language and the fees are over 1000x lower on average compared to Ethereum.

Near Protocol has a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens, of which close to 700 million are circulating –– an advantage for investors due to little future dilution. Over 44%, or $3 billion worth, are currently staked on the protocol. It stood out for being one of the first L1s to implement sharding and will likely remain among the top 20 largest projects in the crypto industry.

Solana is an L1 blockchain that was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko, a Dropbox engineer back in 2017. Solana has the fastest transaction time in crypto with 40 milliseconds, making it faster than both NEAR and Fantom (5x of NEAR and 60x of Fantom). Solana’s fees are also comparable to NEAR’s, while Fantom has the highest fees at 1.5 cents on average.

Solana was a long project in the making because it introduced a new toolset that is not compatible with the EVM or any existing Ethereum tooling. The reason Solana is so fast is that it was one of the first blockchains written entirely in Rust.

Rust is considered the fastest network programming language aside from C. The blockchain has a millisecond block production and the fees are a fraction of a cent. However, DeFi users on Solana cannot use existing EVM-based tooling such as the way they can on NEAR and Fantom; they must install Solana-based wallets such as Phantom.

Solana wasn’t really prominent for the initial few years until it received the backing of Alameda Research, a large crypto investment firm. During the 2020 bull run, Solana became one of the top gainers in crypto and rose from less than $2 to an all-time high of over $250. Solana has a circulating supply of 300 million out of a total supply of 500 million, which is smaller than both NEAR and Fantom.

The staking algorithm on Solana is based on Proof of History (PoH) which is a slight variation of the existing PoS model. Transactions are time-stamped using a 'Verifiable Delay Function' algorithm. This algorithm requires a step-by-step sequence to complete a transaction, which is time-stamped as an event on the blockchain. Each event has a unique hash and this allows nodes to check when the events happened. The timestamps have a built-in "clock" that tracks historic transactions, hence the name ‘Proof of History’.

Solana’s DeFi ecosystem is rivaling Ethereum’s with , which has recorded billions of dollars in trade volume. Solana is the blckchain with the highest staked volume in dollars after with over 75% of the supply staked.

The main downside of Solana compared to Fantom and NEAR is that the network has gone down multiple times over the last year. The efficiency, speed and low cost of transacting on the Solana network make it subject to powerful DDoS attacks that can affect validators. have suggested raising fees on the network to increase the security.

Fantom is a smart contract-powered L1. Fantom became popular for its high DeFi trading activity and innovation. The DeFi TVL of Fantom is currently two times higher than the market cap of the FTM coin. Fantom launched in late 2018 and really took off during the past year. Fantom’s supply is higher compared to NEAR and Solana with 2.5 billion coins out of three billion. During the past year, Fantom’s price soared from $0.01 to over $3.5.

The Fantom blockchain is based on a DAG (directed acyclic graph) which is a data structure where each block is displayed as a hash or a group of hashes, similar to Ethereum’s. The main advantage of Fantom is that it’s difficult to attack as validators can operate leaderlessly. The Fantom consensus algorithm, called 'Lachesis', is not only but also asynchronous.

Let’s say the network is attacked and many false transactions are sent. The validators on the Fantom blockchain would validate transactions on their own, without working through all the incoming transactions. This takes a while longer compared to Solana and NEAR at an average time of two seconds per block, but it is still faster than Ethereum.

Fantom’s price fluctuated over the last few years due to its association with Andre Cronje, a very well-known Ethereum developer. He first deployed Yearn Finance () support for Fantom and integrated it with SushiSwap () as well. He helped build up the Fantom blockchain until his resignation in March 2022 when he retired from the crypto space.

The FTM token price took a hit at the news but development has continued. Fantom has a larger DeFi TVL than NEAR protocol despite having a much lower market cap as a currency.

NEAR vs. SOL vs. FTM: Which is the most decentralized?

As these blockchains are based on proof-of-stake consensus protocols, there is a higher degree of centralization in all of them compared to Bitcoin where miners from all over the world pool in to decentralize the network by contributing .

The two reliable indicators we can use to measure the decentralization of a PoS chain are the percentage of the total supply staked and the number of validators. If more people are staking their coins, they are decentralizing the network.

In this regard, Solana has an edge over both Near and Fantom with over 75% of the total supply staked. Fantom follows at 47% and NEAR is last with 44% staked.

In terms of validators, Solana wins again with over 2,000 validators compared to Near with 100 and Fantom with 60. Fantom has received criticism that it’s the most centralized chain as a few whale wallets own the vast majority of FTM coins –– even more so than on Near and Solana.

Who is winning the L1 wars?

Conclusion: Near vs SOL vs FTM

Near Protocol, Solana and Fantom are all promising projects that aim to become the dominant L1 in the DeFi sphere, and to date, have been delivering on speed, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Compared to Ethereum, these blockchains have a clear advantage in scaling and speed because of newer technology implemented in their protocols, but they are still lacking in user adoption.

At the end of the day, comparing Solana, Fantom and Near is like comparing Pepsi to Coca-Cola. Some people prefer Coke, while others prefer Pepsi. These chains use the same tooling and work with similar staking algorithms; the only materially different blockchain here is Solana with its more unique toolset.

Performance-wise, all of these L1s have provided excellent ROI for investors over the last two years. It will be a close match as these chains continue competing with one another to shape and power the overall DeFi ecosystem.

Source

The L1 wars involve more blockchains than Near Protocol, Solana, and Fantom. For example, coins such as Avalanche (), Cardano () and Tron () also participate in the L1 wars and offer similar features. One metric that can help us measure the success of a blockchain is the TVL (), which represents the sum of all money deposited in a network and its applications.

According to , Solana has the edge over the two with $1.4 billion TVL, followed by Fantom at $536 million and Near Protocol in last place at $295 million at the time of writing. We should note that all of them are down in recent months as a result of Bitcoin’s downturn. The TVLs were much greater when Bitcoin was at its peak.

Despite that, they all pale in comparison to Ethereum’s $34 billion TVL, which leads many to conclude that Ethereum is really winning the L1 wars. The TVL rank list can change overnight; Terra () was the second largest chain after Ethereum by TVL, and then it dropped out of the top 10 in a mere few days following the TerraUSD () crash.

🌕
Layer 1 (L1)
PoS
NEAR
SOL
FTM
ETH
BTC
smart contracts
gas fees
low-cost transactions
cross-chain
sharding
DAO
Ethereum Virtual Machine
MetaMask
ERC-20
MetaMask
Solanart
NFT
Ethereum 2.0
Validators
dApp
Byzantine Fault Tolerant
YFI
SUSHI
hash power
AVAX
ADA
TRX
total value locked
DeFi Llama
LUNA
UST
Phemex