Layer-2 networks posted one of their strongest months of 2025, with explosive growth across emerging platforms and steady expansion among established rollups. New data highlights a broad acceleration in transaction activity, signaling rising adoption in DeFi, gaming, social applications, and cross-chain communication.
Metis was the clear standout, recording +256% growth and reaching 54.48K monthly transactions. The surge reflects a blend of ecosystem incentives, developer migration, and renewed interest in modular rollup architectures. Metis’ rapid rise places it comfortably ahead of the pack in percentage growth, and positions it as one of the fastest-expanding L2 ecosystems heading into December.
Just behind Metis, Derive delivered a striking +91% expansion, while Mantle followed with +64%. Both networks benefited from increased activity across trading protocols and high-frequency applications where low fees and fast settlement offer measurable advantages. Mantle’s strong traction also aligns with new ecosystem funding updates and rising activity around MNT-based staking programs.
ZK-focused networks continued their upward momentum:
These networks remain among the most active development hubs in the Ethereum scaling landscape, with consistent monthly increases rather than isolated spikes.
Several rollups posted moderate but stable activity increases:
Base continues to serve as a retail-heavy network with strong social and meme-driven flows, while Linea and Celo maintained steady growth through developer ecosystem expansions and rising stablecoin usage.
November’s data reveals a clear trend:
Both emerging and established Layer-2 networks are gaining momentum at the same time.
Rather than a single chain dominating activity, the growth is distributed — indicating a competitive, multi-chain L2 environment where users and developers shift between networks based on fees, liquidity, and use-case specialization.
With December approaching and several major token unlocks, airdrops, and product launches on the horizon, the L2 sector is setting up for another high-volatility month of expansion.
