L2's 'Card Swipe' Era: When the Scaling Narrative Ends, Payments Become the Lifeline
The article discusses the growing "payment card" trend among Layer-2 (L2) networks as a strategy to survive a severe user activity and transaction crisis. It begins with Solana's criticism of Starknet's low usage (allegedly only 8 daily active users and 10 transactions) despite its high valuation, highlighting a broader issue of low traffic across many L2s, as evidenced by data from L2BEAT and DefiLlama.
Key examples include Zero Network, which stopped producing blocks for weeks with minimal impact, and networks like Linea, Starknet, Scroll, and ZKsync exhibiting very low Transactions Per Second (TPS). With Base and Arbitrum dominating 80% of the Total Value Locked (TVL), other L2s face a significant valuation-to-usage disparity.
Facing a lack of killer dApps, L2s are turning to cryptocurrency payment cards to generate consistent on-chain activity. Unlike custodial cards from exchanges (which use chains like Tron or Solana for batch settlement), L2s are leveraging non-custodial cards that require on-chain settlement for each transaction. Examples include:
- **Scroll**: Partnered with Etherfi for gasless transactions and cashback subsidies.
- **Gnosis**: Its Gnosis Pay card converts user assets to stablecoins for euro payments.
- **Linea**: Used as a primary settlement layer for the MetaMask card.
This shift provides a high-frequency, sustainable use case, driving transaction volume. Even Polygon is pivoting to payments, citing significant non-USD stablecoin transfer volumes and major acquisitions like Coinme. The conclusion is that L2s, after various failed narratives, are now prioritizing practical, low-cost payment solutions to ensure their survival.
marsbit01/22 12:06
