Despite not ranking in the top 20 L2s by TVL, Arbitrum Nova, a scaling solution developed by Offchain Labs, is emerging as a dominant force in Layer 2 throughput.
As per L2Beat data, Nova has been processing over 45 transactions per second (TPS) consistently for the past 10 days, contributing between one-third and half of the aggregate throughput of Layer 2 networks.
On March 5, Nova recorded its highest-ever throughput of 54.9 TPS, facilitating over 5.1 million transactions within 24 hours, according to Arbiscan. In comparison, zkSync Era, the second most active Layer 2, recorded 10.8 TPS, while all L2s collectively processed 112.5 TPS during the same period.
Despite its position as the 22nd-ranked L2 by total value locked (TVL) with $50 million, Nova’s activity continues to surge. In contrast, OffChain Labs’s flagship scaling solution, Arbitrum One, holds the top position with $15.5 billion TVL, constituting 41.9% of the overall Layer 2 TVL.
Nova’s validators execute transactions off-chain, enabling higher throughput than Arbitrum One, albeit with a more centralized architecture.
OffChain Labs attributes Nova’s spike in activity primarily to a few projects. They stated, “A significant portion of the increased activity on Nova originated from a DePin project called Arbius, which incentivized users to conduct numerous on-chain transactions.” Additionally, game-related activities, particularly from Pirate Nation and BattlePlan, have contributed to Nova’s growth.
Arbius functions as a decentralized AI network powered by GPU miners, leveraging their computational power for tasks like image generation and AI model creation, rather than traditional blockchain validation.
BattlePlan, a web3 gaming studio project, launched on Nova in December, offering an on-chain autobattler. As of February 23, the project reported 1,176 daily active users and 3,073 weekly active users.
5001 Players
3073 WAU
1176 DAUUp and to the right. Feels good, man. pic.twitter.com/lylSvxAhyy
— gGFunk (@Gfunkera86) February 22, 2024
Pirate Nation, an on-chain RPG launched in July 2023, introduced its own Layer 3 network called Apex on February 29, leveraging Arbitrum’s Orbit infrastructure. Apex has since processed over 1 million transactions.
The Proof of Play Apex chain is now live w/ Pirate Nation!
Pirate Nation is now the first fully onchain game deployed to its own Mainnet chain.
This is the start of the Multichain: an infinitely scalable constellation of chains that allows us deliver onchain gaming to millions. pic.twitter.com/tlVFPWlAeS
— Proof of Play (@ProofOfPlay) February 29, 2024
