Gate Research: Gate Research: Strategic Layout of Next-Gen Chains: Sonic, Berachain, Abstract, Sui, Hyperliquid, Unichain, Sei

Abstract

• Escalating Public Chain Competition: In 2025, blockchain infrastructure has shifted to a game of market share. A new wave of public chains—such as high-performance Sonic, model-driven Berachain, L2s like Abstract and Unichain, and DeFi-focused Sei and Hyperliquid—is reshaping the next phase of inter-chain competition.

• Sonic’s Rapid Growth and Incentive Effectiveness: Driven by its dual engines of performance and incentives, Sonic saw its TVL surge nearly 40-fold within three months of mainnet launch, surpassing $1 billion. Its on-chain “GDP” reached $1.47 million.

• Berachain’s PoL Innovation and Liquidity Engine: Berachain leverages a unique Proof-of-Liquidity (PoL) consensus and three-token model ($BERA, $BGT, $HONEY) to bind governance with liquidity. As of May 20, 2025, its TVL reached $1.189 billion.
• Abstract’s Consumer-Grade L2 Strategy: Positioned as a consumer-grade Ethereum Layer 2, Abstract reduces user friction through chain abstraction. As of May 22, 2025, its DeFi TVL exceeded $27 million, with tool-based protocol Reservoir Tools contributing $14.87 million, indicating early traction from tools and speculative activity.
• Sui’s Performance and Security Concerns: Sui adopts the Move language and parallel execution architecture to achieve high performance. but a $260M hack on its top DEX, Cetus, on May 22, 2025, caused TVL to plunge from $2.1B to $1.54B—raising serious concerns about security in the Move ecosystem.
• Hyperliquid’s On-Chain Futures Growth and Profitability: As a perpetual contract trading protocol on a self-developed L1, Hyperliquid has reached a TVL of $1.309 billion with daily trading volume exceeding $11.5 billion, securing its leadership in the on-chain derivatives space.

• Unichain’s Uniswap-Driven Growth and Liquidity Incentives: Launched by Uniswap Labs as a DeFi-optimized L2, Unichain saw its TVL jump from $9 million to $267 million after launching a $5 million incentive program. As of May 23, 2025, Unichain’s TVL reached approximately $530 million, with $437.44 million contributed by Uniswap.
• Sei Network’s DeFi Optimization and Data Performance: Focused on DeFi and high-frequency trading, Sei Network employs an on-chain central limit order book (CLOB). As of May 25, 2025, its TVL stood at $487 million, with over 300,000 daily active addresses.

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