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Public chains serve as the underlying infrastructure of the Web3 world, supporting core functions such as decentralized applications (DApps), digital asset circulation, and cross-chain collaboration. The technical architecture, ecological maturity, and main direction directly determine the development boundaries of Web3. Currently, the global public chain sector presents a pattern of 'a hundred flowers blooming'. Below, we will review the core characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, and development focus of the top ten mainstream public chains based on technological performance, ecological activity, and market performance.
1. Bitcoin: Digital gold and benchmark for value storage
• Core positioning: The world's first blockchain network, focusing on "digital gold" value storage, is the cornerstone of trust in the Web3 world.
• Core advantages: PoW consensus mechanism ensures extreme decentralization and resistance to censorship, with the widest global node distribution, market recognition and market capitalization ($1.2 trillion) ranking first, daily transaction volume on the Lightning Network exceeds $5 billion, becoming the preferred reserve asset for institutions.
• Major drawbacks: Extremely poor scalability, main chain TPS only 7 transactions/second, unable to support complex smart contracts, functionality limited to value transfer; PoW mechanism has very high energy consumption, environmental controversies continue.
• Main focus: Deepen value storage and cross-border payment scenarios, optimize small transaction efficiency through the Lightning Network, explore compliance connection with the traditional financial system.
2. Ethereum (Ethereum): King of smart contracts and ecosystems
• Core positioning: Pioneer of smart contracts, core infrastructure of DeFi and NFT tracks, the most prosperous public chain in the Web3 ecosystem.
• Core advantages: Supports Turing-complete EVM virtual machine, largest developer community, stablecoin market capitalization accounts for 50%; switched to PoS mechanism after merging, significantly reduced energy consumption, TPS exceeds 100,000 after Layer 2 scaling, very strong ecological composability.
• Major drawbacks: High gas fees remain when the mainnet is congested, insufficient native performance (main chain TPS 15-30), high threshold for ordinary users.
• Main focus: Promote Ethereum 2.0 modular upgrade, strengthen Layer 2 ecological cooperation, expand scenarios such as RWA (real-world assets) digitalization and decentralized identity (DID).
3. BNB Chain (BSC): High-performance public chain driven by exchange ecosystems
• Core positioning: Public chain supported by the Binance ecosystem, focusing on low-cost, highly compatible DApp deployment and trading scenarios.
• Core advantages: Fully compatible with EVM, supports Solidity development, transaction speed is fast and fees are only 1%-10% of Ethereum's; daily transaction volume exceeds 3 million, making it the first choice for DeFi project migration, native token BNB has a market cap of $72 billion.
• Major drawbacks: Only a few dozen validation nodes are associated with Binance, significant centralization controversies, and risks of single points of failure; low thresholds have led to an influx of "meme" projects, resulting in uneven ecosystem quality.
• Main focus: Deepen the integration of GameFi and DeFi ecosystems, launch zero Gas fee activities to attract developers, explore collaborative compliance solutions with Binance exchange.
4. Solana (SOL): Performance leader in high-frequency trading scenarios
• Core positioning: Represents "Blockchain 3.0", focusing on ultra-high throughput for high-frequency trading and lightweight application scenarios.
• Core advantages: Innovative PoH + PoS consensus mechanism, theoretical TPS reaches 65,000, actual stability at 2,000-3,000; transaction costs are extremely low, making it a popular choice for MEME coin issuance and high-frequency DEX, stablecoin market cap has grown by 627% annually.
• Major drawbacks: Network stability is concerning, has experienced multiple long downtimes; insufficient degree of decentralization, smart contract ecosystem (based on Rust language) has lower composability than EVM, and there are many fraud projects.
• Main focus: Optimize network stability and node decentralization, expand high-frequency scenarios such as chain games and real-time payments, reduce the learning curve for developers.
5. Avalanche (AVAX): Benchmark for enterprise-level customization and RWA track
• Core positioning: High-performance public chain supporting customized subnets, focusing on enterprise-level applications and RWA scenarios.
• Core advantages: Unique three-chain architecture (X/C/P chain) achieves sub-second transaction finality; subnet architecture supports independent project deployment, closely collaborates with institutions like JPMorgan, RWA track has issued $150 million in treasury bond tokens, gaming ecosystem daily active users exceed 500,000.
• Major drawbacks: Subnet architecture may lead to liquidity and user dispersion, weakening the mainnet network effect; ecological scale still lags behind Ethereum and BSC.
• Main focus: Deepen the digitalization of RWA assets, expand enterprise-level blockchain solutions, strengthen cooperation and liquidity sharing between subnets.
6. Cardano (ADA): Compliance-driven robust public chain based on academia
• Core positioning: Compliance-based public chain rooted in academic research, focusing on sustainability and practical applications.
• Core advantages: Adopts a rigorous peer-reviewed development model, outstanding security; phased upgrades (Goguen, Basho) achieve functional iteration, creating a carbon-neutral network, with a project on education management in Africa, reducing carbon footprint by 95%.
• Major drawbacks: Slow development progress, humorously referred to as "Delay Chain", ecological development speed far behind competitors; insufficient support for complex applications.
• Main focus: Advance the improvement of smart contract functions, deepen compliance application scenarios in emerging markets, and strengthen sustainability and social responsibility attributes.
7. Polkadot (DOT): Multi-chain collaboration protocol with cross-chain interoperability
• Core positioning: "Blockchain Internet", focusing on cross-chain communication and secure sharing across heterogeneous multi-chains.
• Core advantages: Relay chain + parallel chain architecture innovation, achieves cross-chain communication delay <3 seconds through XCMP protocol; supports cooperation of blockchains with different consensus mechanisms, completed 48 parachain slot auctions, total locked amount reaches 23 million DOT.
• Major drawbacks: Complex technical concepts (parachains, slot auctions, etc.), high understanding threshold for users and developers; obvious ecological fragmentation, core cross-chain applications have not met expectations.
• Main focus: Simplify technical barriers, expand cross-chain DeFi, multi-chain DID and other scenarios, strengthen interoperability with traditional public chains, and expand the scale of the parachain ecosystem.
8. Polygon (MATIC): Ethereum Layer 2 scaling aggregator
• Core positioning: Focus on Ethereum scaling Layer 2 solution aggregator, compatible with EVM ecosystem.
• Core advantages: Effectively alleviates Ethereum congestion, significantly reduces transaction fees, fully compatible with EVM, developers can migrate projects without restructuring code; shares security with Ethereum mainnet, strong ecological cooperation.
• Major drawbacks: Highly reliant on Ethereum ecosystem, lacking independent technological innovation; fierce competition in Layer 2 solutions, facing pressure from rivals like Arbitrum and Optimism.
• Main focus: Integrate various scaling technologies (ZK-Rollup, Optimistic Rollup), expand lightweight application scenarios such as NFT and gaming, strengthen seamless connection with Ethereum mainnet.
9. Tron (TRX): Stablecoin circulation and entertainment ecosystem public chain
• Core positioning: Decentralized content entertainment platform, one of the largest stablecoin circulation hubs globally.
• Core advantages: DPoS consensus mechanism achieves 2500 TPS, supports gas-free USDT model, daily processing of $20 billion in transfers, USDT circulation accounts for 31.3%; friendly to Chinese users, ecosystem focuses on payment and entertainment scenarios, obtained EU MiCA certification.
• Major drawbacks: High degree of centralization, excessive influence of the founder, high concentration of nodes; weak DeFi and complex application ecosystems, fraud projects have caused controversies.
• Main focus: Deepen stablecoin payment scenarios, expand decentralized entertainment, short videos, and other content ecosystems, promote compliance processes to attract institutional users.
10. Near Protocol (NEAR): Developer-friendly sharded public chain
• Core positioning: Focus on low-threshold development and user experience sharded public chain, concentrating on smart contracts and cross-chain collaboration.
• Core advantages: Nightshade sharding technology achieves performance expansion, supports EVM compatibility and seamless cross-chain; developer-friendly, uses human-readable account names to lower user thresholds, significant growth in locked amounts of DeFi protocols, has deployed AI model inference chains.
• Major drawbacks: As a newcomer, faces fierce competition from established public chains like Ethereum and Solana; the complexity of sharding technology may affect ecological cooperation efficiency.
• Main focus: Strengthen the integration of AI and blockchain applications, expand developer incentive programs, optimize cross-chain interoperability, and deeply cultivate small and medium-sized DApp ecosystems.
Future trend outlook of public chain tracks
The current Web3 public chains have transitioned from "performance competition" to the stage of "ecological cultivation and scenario implementation"; balancing performance and security, cross-chain interoperability, and deep cultivation in vertical fields have become core competitive focuses. Layer 2 scaling and modular blockchains will continue to dominate performance optimization directions, while cross-chain protocols like Polkadot and Cosmos will break ecological silos, and vertical tracks such as RWA, DePIN, and AI + blockchain will become key differentiators in public chain competition. For developers and investors, the core logic of choosing a public chain has shifted from a single technical indicator to a comprehensive consideration of ecological adaptability, scenario implementation capability, and compliance stability. In the future, the public chain track will present a pattern of "head solidification and waist innovation."
