

**Ethereum's Layer-2 ecosystem reached $37.4 billion in total value locked, confirming that the network's scaling upgrades are shifting activity to L2s while keeping settlement on the mainnet.** Ethereum's weekly transaction count hit 18 million while median fees fell to $0.008, a divergence that shows the scaling roadmap is working. "The Pectra and Fusaka upgrades expanded blob throughput and data availability, which is exactly what L2s need to scale without congesting L1," Jason Wu, on-chain analyst at Edgen, said. Total blob fees reached 1.492 million ETH, per Dune Analytics, reflecting adoption of proto-danksharding. L2 TVL now stands at $37.41 billion, nearly half of Ethereum mainnet's total. Base leads with $11.86 billion, followed by Arbitrum One, ZKsync, and OP Mainnet. Base processed 248.3 million transactions in the period, accounting for 29.1 percent of all L2 activity, while Robinhood Chain posted a 30,922 percent monthly surge in transaction count. The milestone validates Ethereum's rollup-centric roadmap, potentially drawing more developers and capital to L2s and pressuring competing L1 chains to justify their valuations. Monthly active users on Ethereum rose 2.9 percent to 8.3 million, signaling the ecosystem is attracting new participants even as activity migrates to L2s. **L2 Transaction Volumes Surge as Costs Collapse** Transaction counts on L2s have spiked since late June. Arbitrum One saw monthly transaction growth of 22.2 percent, while Optimism posted 19.2 percent and Base added 13.4 percent, according to Token Terminal data. Robinhood Chain, the newest entrant, recorded a 30,922 percent monthly increase and now accounts for 13.9 percent of all L2 transactions. The median transaction fee on Ethereum fell to an all-time low of $0.008, even as weekly transaction counts reached 18 million. That cost collapse is the direct result of proto-danksharding, which uses temporary data blobs to reduce L2 posting costs to Ethereum. **What the $37.4B TVL Milestone Means for the Ecosystem** The $37.41 billion locked across L2s represents nearly half of Ethereum mainnet's total TVL, per L2BEAT data. Base leads at $11.86 billion, up 1.04 percent, followed by Arbitrum One and OP Mainnet. ZKsync was the only top L2 to post a decline. This concentration of value on L2s strengthens the thesis that Ethereum's rollup-centric roadmap is working as designed: execution scales on L2s while security and settlement remain on Ethereum L1. The next test will come with further data availability improvements in upcoming upgrades, which could push L2 TVL past $50 billion by year-end. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Injective filed a Form TA-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to register as a transfer agent, a move that would place the layer-1 blockchain within the existing US securities infrastructure for tokenized real-world assets. "This is a transfer agent registration, not a securities registration for the INJ token," a person familiar with the filing told Edgen. "Form TA-1 is what a service provider files, not what an issuer files. It positions Injective as regulated infrastructure for tokenized assets." The filing, submitted alongside the launch of Injective Mint on July 17, represents a direct engagement with US securities law rather than an attempt to work around it. Transfer agents maintain official ownership records of securities, process changes in ownership, and manage investor communications — functions that Injective aims to bring onchain. Under US rules, the transfer agent's register remains the legal source of truth even when a token exists on a blockchain, with the smart contract enforcing transfer restrictions to non-approved wallets. The strategic significance extends beyond the filing itself. Injective has already settled $6.8 billion in real-world asset volume on its network and surpassed $1.1 billion in native asset issuance, according to the company. The Injective Mint platform, now in private alpha, allows institutions to issue equities, bonds, ETFs, and foreign exchange products through a single compliance-ready interface — with holder restrictions, jurisdictional screening, and freeze controls built into the issuance process rather than added afterward. The SEC filing and platform launch follow a series of institutional infrastructure moves. BitGo joined Injective as a validator in June 2025, and the network has processed 2.94 billion onchain transactions to date. Injective also completed the migration of its INJ token from Ethereum's ERC-20 standard to its native Injective EVM, with Coinbase supporting a direct 1:1 conversion, boosting access to DeFi applications on the network. INJ traded at $5.28 as of July 20, up 4.2% from the prior week, with a daily trading volume of $88 million, according to CoinGecko. The token had a roughly $494 million market cap when it launched on Robinhood on July 16 at $4.76 to $5.00, and the listing was accompanied by a broader press cycle that included a Linux Foundation membership, an AI development kit, and a MiCA whitepaper. The approval timeline for the transfer agent registration remains uncertain. If approved, Injective would become one of the first blockchain networks to operate as a registered securities infrastructure provider in the US, potentially opening the door for traditional financial institutions to issue tokenized assets on its chain. Future releases and integrations on Injective Mint will be powered by the INJ token, creating a structural link between institutional adoption and token demand that could shift the network's economic dynamics as issuance scales. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Circle Internet Group signed a non-binding MOU with South Korea's Kakao Group on July 22 to explore a Korean won stablecoin and blockchain-based payments infrastructure. "Korea is one of the world's leading digital markets and has a solid foundation for financial innovation," Kash Razzaghi, chief commercial officer at Circle, said in a statement. The partnership brings together Circle's USDC infrastructure with Kakao Group's digital ecosystem, which includes KakaoTalk's messaging platform, Kakao Pay's payment services with more than 40 million users, and KakaoBank's financial capabilities. The companies plan to develop business models combining Kakao's platform reach with Circle's blockchain and global payments network for won-based digital assets and tokenized financial services. The MOU is an exploratory agreement rather than a binding commercial contract, and the companies did not disclose a detailed issuance structure or service launch timeline. The project's direction will depend on South Korea's pending Digital Asset Basic Act and rules governing who may issue won stablecoins, according to the statement. The two sides are reviewing ways to use Circle's payments infrastructure to improve global payments, cross-border remittances and merchant settlement, according to the July 23 announcement. They also plan technical cooperation to strengthen interoperability between blockchain networks and existing financial systems. Kakao Group has formed a joint stablecoin task force co-led by Shin Won-keun, chief executive officer of Kakao Pay, to coordinate the initiative. The group is also considering shared infrastructure that would allow other domestic companies to develop related services beyond the won stablecoin project. "Competitiveness in digital assets cannot be built on technology alone," Shin said. "Based on the platform, payments and financial service experience built into daily life, Kakao Group will work with Circle to prepare early for a Korean-style digital-asset ecosystem." South Korea is one of the most active crypto markets globally by trading volume, and a won-backed stablecoin could significantly expand stablecoin use cases in retail payments and cross-border transactions. Circle's USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market cap with a circulating supply of roughly $34 billion, currently operates primarily on Ethereum, Solana and other major blockchains. The partnership marks Circle's latest push into Asia after the company expanded its presence in Singapore and Japan. For Kakao Group, the move represents an effort to extend its financial services footprint into digital assets ahead of clearer domestic regulation. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.