Modularity won. Now what? 4,000+ chains scanned 1,973 unique chains L1s, L2s, L3s, rollups, RaaS, VMs, explorers — all indexed. Here’s what you need to know about the State of the Market in Q1 2025 🧵

1/ Virtual Machines: the great fragmentation – EVM still dominates (86%+), but its share is declining – WASM and CosmWasm grow, esp. in Cosmos/Substrate chains – zkVMs gain traction at L2 – L3s still overwhelmingly EVM (98.8%) EVM dominates, but alternative VMs are emerging. Future blockchain innovation hinges on their scalability, specialization, and interoperability, creating a modular, multi-VM Web3 infrastructure.

2/ Layer 1s: sovereign and modular – 1,453 L1s indexed – Cosmos, Polkadot, Avalanche dominate (98% of L1 ecosystems) – Appchain architecture wins: modularity, sovereignty, IBC/XCM support The Layer 1 ecosystem demands modularity, composability, and sovereignty for success. Cosmos, Polkadot, Avalanche, and SagaOS lead, while smaller ecosystems must specialize and innovate to stand out. ⚠️ Ethereum excluded from L1 count — it’s treated as a foundational base layer.

3/ Layer 2s: the new default execution layer – 460 L2s tracked – OP Stack leads (37.5%), followed by Bitcoin-based L2s (23.6%) and Arbitrum (17.7%) – zk adoption growing via Polygon, zkSync, StarkEx – L2 = rollup standardization meets ecosystem war OP Stack + RaaS = default for new rollups. The Layer 2 ecosystem is highly modular, diverse, and competitive. OP Stack and Arbitrum excel in scalability, while zk-based frameworks and native rollups reshape privacy and composability. Future success hinges on ecosystem alignment, cross-chain connectivity, and flexible modular infrastructure.

4/ Layer 3s: application-specific and early-stage – 60 L3s indexed – Arbitrum Orbit dominates (41.4%), followed by Base, OP Stack, Superchain-native chains – 55% still on testnet – L3 = vertical-specific logic: gaming, DePIN, AI, agents Welcome to the modular UX hub: Layer 3 is evolving with open-access RaaS platforms, native rollup SDKs, and a growing demand for specialized execution settings.