Layer-2 solutions increase the practical use cases of the blockchain infrastructure by lowering gas fees and increasing network bandwidth. Consensys, the creator of the MetaMask wallet, introduced its layer-2 ecosystem Linea to streamline the onboarding of more users to Web3.
The growth of the blockchain ecosystem accelerates the need for a bigger, better, faster infrastructure. As new use cases and applications emerge, it becomes impossible for Ethereum or other layer-1 solutions to execute high volumes of transactions efficiently and address the specific needs of the extensive Web3 landscape. This is where layer-2 blockchain networks come into play.
Using layer-1 blockchains as the foundational infrastructure, L2 blockchains build more sophisticated and scalable networks, mostly focused on specific needs such as payments, decentralized finance (DeFi) or gaming. Since L2 solutions can proceed with transactions in batches on the base layer, they offer dramatically lower transaction costs, solving a major pain point of Ethereum.
A journey to DeFi
Linea is a layer-2 solution to address the scalability and cost issues in the blockchain ecosystem. Leveraging the innovative zero-knowledge rollup technology, Linea takes computation and state off-chain to increase the throughput on the base layer. It was launched by Consensys, a pioneering Web3 company known for its popular crypto wallet MetaMask.
To celebrate the growth of DeFi, Linea is holding a six-week gamification experience called the Linea DeFi Voyage, where users can participate in over ten waves of quests and gain experience points dubbed XPs.
Anyone can join the event, get first-hand experience with key platforms and protocols in the DeFi space, discover promising projects and earn XP tokens.
The gamified event gives users tasks like “Swap ETH for USDC” or “Perform an OTC swap” and awards each task with XP tokens. The award tokens are expected to be exchangeable for Linea ecosystem’s native token in the future.
Full-fledged Web3 ecosystem
The Linea ecosystem builds on the layer-2 advantages of Linea to become an end-to-end DeFi experience for users. It will include a decentralized exchange (DEX), a lending protocol, a smart wallet for DApps, a perpetual DEX and a social finance (SocialFi) platform.
Offering swaps, liquidity pools, and yield farming, Velocore is the first DEX part of the Linea ecosystem. It offers one-click compounding to simplify DeFi for users from all experience levels. Beyond Linea XP and yield, Velocore offers opportunities to earn a unique ‘Passport Score’ by tracking user activity on Velocore. The Passport Score is utilized for distributing shares in chain expansions and the TGE of the chain.
Mendi Finance is Linea ecosystem’s first native lending protocol, enabling incentivized borrowing and supplying of assets including USDC, USDT, DAI, wstETH, WETH and WBTC. Mendi also shares 100% of its protocol’s profits back to stakers, allowing users to earn real yield.
The smart wallet of the ecosystem, Fluvi, is a multichain account abstraction wallet providing gas-free transactions between different blockchain networks.
For users who look beyond basic trade functions, Satori Finance gives the first on-chain derivatives trading experience of the Linea ecosystem. It has a user-friendly interface for simplified trading for casual traders. Professional traders can use the platform’s comprehensive tools to develop and implement complex trading strategies.
Web3 content creators can also become part of the Linea ecosystem with SocialFi platform Tomo, which provides a new approach to creator exclusivity and content monetization.
Tomo is a Linea-based Web3 social finance (SocialFi) protocol where content creators can forge direct connections with followers. The platform allows users to collaborate with each other to create content and have tokenized access to chat rooms, and direct messaging features.
SocialFi combines aspects of decentralized finance (DeFi) with social media through tokenization and other on-chain value-generation techniques. This empowers Tomo creators and fans to have sovereign control over their digital data, have access to transparent content monetization policies, and prevent unilateral censorship.
Layer-2 networks play a vital role in the sustainable growth of the Web3 space. As more users join the blockchain ecosystem, the need for more bandwidth, faster transactions and lower costs will only move upward.
By providing an environment to deploy DApps rapidly, Linea grows its network to cater to the needs of users from all backgrounds. And its DeFi Voyage event gives a fresh take on how to introduce key Web3 functionality to a broader audience.