Which projects should be watched in the next L1 battle?
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Which projects should be watched in the next L1 battle?
Old L1s are continuously being improved, while new L1s emerge one after another; investors who fail to keep up with the narrative may be left behind in the development wave.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsOriginal Author | Beehive
Translated by | Baize Research Institute
The L1 race is no longer a new concept for crypto investors. Nevertheless, as older L1s continue to evolve and new ones emerge constantly, investors who fail to keep up with the narrative may be left behind in the wave of development.
The First L1 War
In 2018, when I first entered the crypto market, an OG told me, "Invest in ETH; its price has halved, the bottom is in—that’s your chance to enter." At that time, projects like Ethereum weren’t called L1s yet—they were referred to as smart contract platforms.
During this period, many smart contract platforms such as Cardano, NEO (known as the “Chinese Ethereum”), Tron, EOS, and Monero were created to address Ethereum’s scalability issues—specifically transaction speed and fees—and thus earned the nickname “ETH killers” among investors. However, most of these so-called “ETH killers” have since faded into obscurity or disappeared entirely.
The Second L1 War
The second L1 war took place during the most recent market cycle (2020–2024), with the primary goal still being to solve Ethereum’s scalability challenges. Although the objective remained the same, this battle appeared far more diverse than the previous cycle.
This war focused on foundational blockchains with the following characteristics:
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Multi-chain blockchains: Cosmos, Polkadot, and Avalanche.
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Monolithic blockchains: Solana, Near Protocol, Fantom, Celo, …
Looking back at the first two L1 wars, we can see that while the L1 narrative is relatively new, it has consistently attracted investor interest since its emergence.
However, next-generation L1 projects are expected to have a broader scope and greater impact than their predecessors.
Therefore, I predict that projects such as Sui, Aptos, Aleo, Celestia, and Monad will lead the next wave of the L1 war in the upcoming bull market.
Which Projects Will Lead the Next L1 War?
1. Aptos
Aptos is one of the latest L1s, having completed token distribution through a retroactive airdrop. Users who minted NFTs on the Aptos testnet received an average airdrop worth $3,000 in APT tokens.
Aptos’ Scalability Solution
Aptos employs the Block-STM algorithm and BFT consensus mechanism to process network transactions, aiming to resolve scalability issues and avoid repeating Solana’s repeated network resets. Aptos’ parallel execution mechanism enables the simultaneous processing of numerous transactions, achieving network speeds of up to 160,000 TPS. In addition to using the Move language—originally developed for Facebook’s Diem project—Aptos also supports Rust for smart contract development.
Status of the Aptos Ecosystem
Following the introduction of the APT token and large-scale community airdrops, the number of projects within the Aptos ecosystem surged rapidly, indicating a strong start. However, many early-stage ecosystem projects were of poor quality, with a significant number suspected of attempting to defraud users.
Nevertheless, several factors suggest a promising future for the Aptos ecosystem:
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Strong support from Binance & BNB Chain: Aptos was the first blockchain to integrate with PancakeSwap, signaling that Binance’s backing goes beyond strategic investment.
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Key ecosystem projects such as Thala Labs, Pontem, Aries Market, Totuga Finance, and Martian Wallet have successfully raised funding, demonstrating continued VC confidence in core components of the Aptos ecosystem.
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Expanded support for Rust and other prominent programming languages will further strengthen the Aptos ecosystem.
Although the number of high-quality projects in the Aptos ecosystem remains limited, Aptos has made a relatively positive start and appears stronger than Sui in early impressions—an encouraging sign for long-term ecosystem growth.
Team and Investors
The talent of the Aptos development team is undeniable—they previously worked at Facebook and built Diem.
Even after mainnet launch, the project raised hundreds of millions of dollars, reaching a valuation of $4 billion.
Evaluation
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Aptos technically addresses Ethereum’s scalability limitations at the execution layer.
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While the ecosystem is still in its early stages with few standout projects, its future remains promising.
2. Sui
Unlike Aptos, Sui sparked controversy at mainnet launch by not offering a token airdrop to testnet users. Instead, testnet participants only received whitelists to purchase SUI tokens at $0.03—equivalent to a $300 million valuation.
Sui’s Solution
Sui is a monolithic blockchain similar to Solana, Fantom, or Near Protocol. However, like Aptos, Sui opts for horizontal scaling rather than vertical scaling—a key distinction from Solana.
While Aptos uses parallel execution to settle multiple transactions simultaneously, Sui takes a different approach. The Narwhal-Tusk consensus algorithm is central to Sui’s scalability solution, minimizing communication between validators to reduce latency.
As a result, Sui achieves TPS performance comparable to—or even exceeding—Aptos, without requiring Solana-grade nodes. It could be said that Sui partially resolves the blockchain trilemma of scalability, security, and decentralization.
Status of the Sui Ecosystem
The Sui ecosystem is still in the early infrastructure development phase and has received little attention. Typically, a new L1 requires about a year to build foundational components such as wallets, bridges, oracles, and APIs before entering a sustainable growth phase.
Team and Investors
Similar to the Aptos team, most members of Mysten Labs—the team behind Sui—also came from the Diem project. However, Sui’s team includes a significantly higher proportion of former Diem developers compared to Aptos.
Evaluation
It is currently too early to make accurate predictions about Sui’s future, as much depends on the project’s long-term strategic direction. However, compared to its rival Aptos, the Sui team demonstrates greater creativity in solving transaction processing challenges. Regarding scalability, Sui’s solution appears more secure and practical.
3. Monad
Monad is a new L1 that recently gained attention due to “airdrop speculation” surrounding its upcoming testnet launch.
Monad’s Solution
Unlike Sui and Aptos, Monad is an EVM-compatible blockchain utilizing a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism with a target throughput of up to 10,000 TPS. What enables Monad’s high transaction speed?
Like Aptos, Monad implements parallel transaction execution.
Status of the Monad Ecosystem
Monad is currently in the R&D phase, preparing to release its testnet in the near future. As such, there are currently no participants in the Monad ecosystem.
Team and Investors
The Monad development team spent over seven years working at Jump Trading, a major player in traditional finance (TradFi). Additionally, Monad has successfully raised $19 million from prominent VCs including Dragonfly Capital, Lemniscap, Shima Capital, and Placeholder.
Evaluation
It is difficult to assess Monad at this stage, but based on available information, the team’s ability to raise funds from top-tier VCs suggests strong potential.
4. Aleo
Aleo is a new L1 designed to provide decentralized and fully private applications for all Web3 users through zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology.
Aleo’s Solution
According to Aleo’s documentation, the platform does not emphasize scalability but instead focuses on providing privacy to all users via ZKP technology.
Status of the Aleo Ecosystem
The Aleo ecosystem is in its early development phase. Projects such as Leo Wallet, VolcaniX, Nucleo, and Demox Labs are emerging, but it will take considerable time to track the ecosystem’s progress. Currently, Aleo remains on testnet, with no announced mainnet launch date.
Team and Investors
Aleo has successfully raised a total of $298 million from top VCs including a16z, Coinbase Ventures, Placeholder, and Polychain Capital. While the development team itself is not particularly notable, it’s clear that VCs possess insights not yet public.
Evaluation
We currently lack sufficient information to evaluate Aleo and require more observation time. Given the level of funding and attention a privacy-focused project has received, regulatory intervention—possibly from the U.S. government—could pose a risk. If such a scenario arises, will Aleo adjust its objectives accordingly?
5. Celestia
Celestia is the crypto industry’s first fully modular blockchain. Despite raising less capital than Aptos or Sui, Celestia has generated significant interest within the crypto community.
Celestia’s Solution
Traditional blockchains typically integrate consensus, settlement, data availability, and execution within a single architecture. However, as blockchain applications grow in complexity and demand, monolithic designs may no longer suffice. Celestia, as a modular blockchain, decouples execution from consensus and data availability.
Celestia’s model resembles Ethereum + Rollup L2s. Once Ethereum completes its 2.0 roadmap, it too will become a fully modular blockchain. Clearly, modular blockchains represent a significant trend for the future of crypto.
Status of the Celestia Ecosystem
Celestia is still in the R&D phase, and its ecosystem has not yet formed.
Team and Investors
The project’s co-founders include senior developers from Cosmos, and other team members also boast strong pedigrees.
Evaluation
Compared to Aptos and Sui, Celestia’s development pace is slower due to the high complexity of the technology it aims to build.
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