In 2025, public chains may no longer be the sexy, grand-narrative sector they once were, because what users truly care about is no longer throughput, the size of funding rounds, or how impressive the backing VC lineup is. Instead, they care about whether there is real user growth, whether there is real money on the chain that can stand the test, and whether there are developers who will stay for the long term and applications that break into the mainstream. This year, some public chains completed the transition from "being discussed" to "being used"; some chose to slow down and hone their underlying capabilities; and others validated their long-term path amidst market fluctuations.
"OKX's Public Chain Friends in 2025" is not a grand narrative recap. Instead, it invites those on the front lines to clearly explain what was truly accomplished this year, which judgments were proven correct, and which areas still need continued refinement—because these are the core issues that the community and users care about most. In 2025, OKX's cooperation with multiple public chains is no longer limited to one-off integrations or events, but focuses on the continuous optimization of liquidity, developer tools, and on-chain asset utilization efficiency. This special feature invited core founders from ecosystems of some public chains collaborating with OKX to share their real feelings during the cooperation process: Which initiatives truly drove ecosystem growth? Which issues still need improvement? It also looks to the future, exploring how both sides can translate short-term cooperation experience into long-term value.
Optimism Accounts for 46.6% of Total Ethereum L2 TVL, Stablecoin Scale Exceeds $6.1 Billion
Jing Wang, Co-founder and CEO of Optimism, stated that enterprise blockchain adoption increased significantly in 2025, with Optimism becoming a core infrastructure provider for numerous enterprises migrating large-scale settlements, consumer applications, and institutional systems on-chain. Over the past year, the Optimism ecosystem supported 14.1% of daily cryptocurrency transactions (compared to 6.3% in 2024) and now accounts for 62.1% of all Ethereum Layer 2 activity via the Superchain (previously 39.8%). Furthermore, the network processes approximately 24.1 million transactions daily while reducing median fees by 99%, bringing costs for the vast majority of users down to almost zero.
These performance enhancements unlocked new economic activities for partners, including consumer-grade applications like Base, which support millions of micro-transactions and exchange-driven capital flows previously hindered by high costs. Meanwhile, liquidity has strengthened simultaneously, with Optimism capturing 46.6% of all Ethereum Layer 2 Total Value Locked (TVL), and the stablecoin scale across the entire ecosystem reaching $6.1 billion.
Overall, enterprises increasingly view Optimism's shared, production-ready mature infrastructure as a reliable foundation for scaling real-world on-chain applications.
OKX's migration of XLayer to the OP Stack in 2025 was one of the most significant developments for Optimism in the enterprise space. OKX validated what many operators are realizing: scalable open-source infrastructure is becoming crucial for running large-scale financial systems on-chain. This move reflects a broader trend: treating Layer 2 networks as core operational infrastructure.
Collaborating with the OKX team demonstrates that exchanges and infrastructure providers can align around shared standards, predictable scalability, and long-term ecosystem growth. Looking ahead, we see significant opportunities to unlock additional value with OKX through deeper synergy with the broader OP Stack ecosystem, whether through shared liquidity channels, a more unified developer environment, or exploring future opportunities within the Superchain framework.
Base Fees Below 1 Cent, On-Chain Assets Exceed $13 Billion
Jesse Pollak, Creator of Base, stated that just two years after its launch, it has achieved a processing capacity of 150 million gas per second (150 mgas/s), block confirmation times of 200 milliseconds, fees below 1 cent, and provides a home for over $13 billion in assets. Jesse is deeply proud of the progress made by the Base application. It has redefined how the world accesses the chain by integrating social, trading, payment, and application functions into one. Since the beta release, over a million users have joined. With this application, Base is developing and releasing various tools to help creators earn.
OKX understands the Base vision. Their support through the OKX Wallet and DEX has played a huge role in bringing Base to a global audience. By integrating Base assets directly into the wallet and providing deep liquidity support on the DEX for communities like Zora, Virtuals, and Clanker, they have built the stage developers deserve. We appreciate their support in bringing the on-chain future to tens of millions of users globally. 2026 will be even more exciting.
Unichain Daily Trading Volume Exceeds $750 Million
The Uniswap Labs team shared with us several key milestones achieved in 2025. Unichain officially launched in April 2025. Since its launch, its Total Value Locked (TVL) once surpassed $900 million, and it achieved a daily average DEX trading volume of over $750 million during the summer of this year.
In terms of daily average DEX trading volume, Unichain is now stably among the top tier of Layer 2 networks. Despite being live for only about 9 months, it has successfully established itself as a leader among mainstream Layer 2 networks this year and is poised for further growth next year.
Regarding cooperation, OKX has integrated the Uniswap Trading API into the 'Swap' feature of the OKX Wallet. This API supports OKX users in swapping assets across 7 blockchains, using either the Uniswap classic routing (covering v2, v3, and v4 liquidity) or the UniswapX routing, which aggregates liquidity from multiple sources via an RFQ (Request for Quote) mechanism. In terms of annual performance, over 70,000 transactions have been completed so far, with a total trading volume exceeding $250 million and an average swap size of over $3,500 per transaction.
Aptos Launches Industry-Redefining Products Like Shelby
Avery Ching, Co-founder and CEO of Aptos Labs, stated that 2025 was a year of reset for Aptos, an opportunity to review past lessons, rebuild with purpose, and lay a solid foundation for the global transaction engine that will be the core driver of the next phase of open and fair finance. This engine will span market cycles and launch industry-redefining products like Shelby, Decibel, and Namespaces.
We are greatly encouraged by the positive feedback from investors, partners, and the community, and the collaboration with like-minded partners like OKX—whose global reach and mission alignment inject strong momentum into the ecosystem—has been crucial. Aptos is committed to working together to expand the reach of digital finance, accelerate its adoption, and make digital finance a part of the daily lives of individuals and institutions worldwide.”
Many changes occurred in the Crypto industry in 2025. For public chains and L2s, the risks and challenges faced are also growing. As each chain chooses to settle down, cultivate its capabilities, and patiently refine its products, the highway for the blockchain industry is built. We just need more time to make this broad avenue bustling with activity.
Sei Surpasses 13 Million Unique Active Wallets
Jeff, Founder of Sei, stated that in 2025, Sei established solid partnerships with top traditional financial institutions like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, Apollo Global Management, and Laser Digital, and achieved another major milestone with Sei's listing on the Robinhood platform.
On-chain activity surged, and Sei has become a leading Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chain by number of Unique Active Wallets (reaching 13.67 million in October 2025), with cumulative transactions exceeding 4 billion. Our ecosystem continues to thrive, with Yei and Metarena successfully conducting Token Generation Events (TGE), while applications like Takaralend, Monaco, Pit.Finance, and Kindred have gained widespread attention. Looking ahead, we are building the fastest EVM ever—Sei Giga—aiming to set a new performance benchmark for blockchain infrastructure.
The collaboration with OKX has significantly enhanced Sei's visibility and community influence in Asia, especially in Japan, where we successfully listed on OKX Japan (OKX Jp). Furthermore, OKX has helped grow our ecosystem through wallet promotion campaigns, greatly accelerating our growth in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. Looking forward, Sei will explore ways to integrate more deeply into the OKX ecosystem and support the next wave of builders within the OKX community.
Sonic On-Chain Transaction Volume Surpasses 100 Million, Achieves Zero Downtime
In early 2025, Sonic launched a points program and hosted a Decentralized Finance and Artificial Intelligence (DeFAI) hackathon to boost ecosystem activity and incentivize participants. In March, Sonic completed integrations with Aave and Pendle, further refining its DeFi infrastructure. In April-May, Sonic's Total Value Locked (TVL) reached $1 billion, introduced native USDC.e via Circle's CCTP V2, and launched instant, feeless Sonic Pay. In June, on-chain transaction volume surpassed 100 million, achieving zero downtime and sub-second confirmations, marking one of the fastest milestones for an EVM chain; the same month, it completed a $10 million strategic funding round led by Galaxy Ventures and introduced GSR as a market maker.
During the July-September period, Sonic hosted the Sonic Summit 2025 in Singapore on September 29-30. In August, it launched Airdrop Season 2 and an S-Tier hackathon, passed its first governance proposal, established a US entity, advanced institutional custody business with BitGo, and progressed plans related to ETP/ETF and Nasdaq PIPE listings. In September, Sonic appointed Mitchell Demeter as CEO and welcomed a $25 million Resonance Security dedicated fund launched by CMCC Global. In October, Sonic initiated a $6 million $S token buyback plan; in November, Airdrop Season 2 concluded successfully.
Past cooperation with OKX has been smooth and efficient. OKX provided strong execution and powerful support in expanding Sonic's user reach. Looking ahead, we hope to deepen cooperation in practical areas such as product integration, ecosystem growth initiatives, user education, and co-hosting more offline events to help Sonic achieve sustained growth in multiple regions.
ZetaChain Surpasses 11.5 Million Unique Users, Transaction Volume Exceeds 223 Million
Jessie Zhang, Head of Incubation and Investments at ZetaChain, stated that ZetaChain achieved scale in 2025, with unique users on its omnichain surpassing 11.5 million and transaction volume reaching 223 million. The network expanded through strategic partnerships with Google Cloud, Deutsche Telekom, and Alibaba, and added integrations with several important chains including Sui and TON. Regulatory progress was also made, with ZetaChain aligning with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) in Europe and gaining recognition from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in Dubai. Heading into 2026, ZetaChain is poised to further advance omnichain development and launch a major initiative at the intersection of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.
OKX has been a key partner since ZetaChain's early testnet phase. Together, we launched the first Cryptopedia event, enabled OKX Wallet support on ZetaChain's mainnet launch day, and introduced multiple ZETA staking and reward programs for OKX users. Additionally, our teams have co-hosted numerous community events globally, including a BTC meetup at Token 2049 in Singapore, a Hong Kong Bitcoin halving celebration party, and an Omnichain Day event at ETH Denver. Looking ahead to 2026, we look forward to deepening our collaboration by launching new projects to further advance omnichain development and accelerate the adoption of AI-powered Web3 applications.
