Unichain, Uniswap's New Ethereum Layer-2 Network, Was the Fastest-Growing Blockchain in Its Debut Month

Unichain, which launched its mainnet on Feb. 11, saw 236,452 active addresses in its first month, according to blockchain analytics firm Nansen.

Newly launched Ethereum layer-2 network Unichain was the fastest-growing blockchain in its debut month, while Solana's key metrics cooled amid the decline in memecoin mania, according to blockchain data firm Nansen.

Unichain, which launched its mainnet on Feb. 11, saw 236,452 active addresses in its first month, the data provider said on Friday.

While impressive for a new network, Unichain's user base remains small compared to Solana's 112 million total users and the roughly 19 million active users on Base and BNB Chain.

However, Unichain has already emerged as a major player in decentralized exchange (DEX) volume, recording $217.7 billion — ranking third in the industry and surpassing Ethereum's base layer at $91.2 billion. Berachain, which debuted in early February, reported a 30-day DEX volume of $3.78 billion, placing it eighth in the industry. It had a much higher number of active addresses than Unichain, which had 1.7 million.

Among established networks, BNB Chain saw the only DEX volume increase, surging 161% to $233.9 billion, making it the second-largest by volume.

Uniswap's layer 2 launch reclaims DEX throne

Uniswap had been the largest DEX for most of its existence, but high Ethereum gas fees drove users toward cheaper alternatives like Solana and BNB Chain — especially during the recent memecoin frenzy. Uniswap conceded the top DEX spot to Solana-based Raydium in October and November 2024 as a result.

With the rise of Ethereum layer-2 solutions and the launch of Unichain, users can now access Uniswap's services with lower fees and faster transactions. On launch, Uniswap was running with zero interface fees for swaps, and the network boasted one-second block times, with plans to reduce them to 250 milliseconds.

As of March 10, Uniswap has reclaimed its position as the top DEX by total value locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama.

Solana's cools amid memecoin decline

Industry-wide TVL has dropped from $138 billion in mid-December 2024 to $91.8 billion as of March 10, per DefiLlama.

Meanwhile, Solana remained the leader in active addresses, transactions and DEX volume, but its key metrics have declined in the past 30 days, Nansen data shows. Active addresses are down 19%, transactions have dropped 70% and DEX volume has fallen 27%.

Solana has been the go-to network for memecoin trading, with celebrities and even political figures launching tokens. However, declining investor appetite, bot activity and scam allegations — such as the controversy surrounding the Argentine president-backed token linked to Hayden Davis and Libra — have weighed on sentiment. Solana's token launch activity and overall market sentiment on memecoins have since dropped.