Mantle’s mainnet officially launched on July 17th, 2023, with over 130k transactions executed to date.

This milestone was the culmination of an intensive six-month-long testnet period. According to the team, during this time, the network processed over 14m transactions and deployed more than 140k smart contracts, while connecting over 690k unique wallets.

These accomplishments were also accompanied by multiple security audits to identify any potential areas of exploitation, which facilitated a smooth transition to mainnet.

Since the inception of the Mantle mainnet, the network’s native cryptocurrency token, $MNT, has increased approximately by ~20% – with most crypto Twitter influencers adding it to their watchlists. Today, we will delve into what Mantle is, and explore why they are poised to outrival existing Ethereum Layer-2 solutions.

Introduction to Mantle 

Mantle was created by BitDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) founded by the centralized exchange, ByBit. With early backing from partners including Peter Thiel, Pantera Capital, and Dragonfly Capital.

By leveraging optimistic roll-up technology, Mantle is a Layer 2 scaling solution built on top of the Ethereum blockchain, much like Optimism and Arbitrum.

Rollups work by aggregating data off-chain before transmitting crucial data back to the main chain, in this case, Ethereum. They are essential as they enhance scalability by allowing for the processing of thousands of transactions per second, thus alleviating network congestion.

As a result, this ensures that gas fees can be kept low and on-chain operations can be cost-efficient.

Mantle is also Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible, which means developers can easily deploy their protocols and dApps on Mantle.

However, the key differentiator for Mantle is that it is the first pioneering Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution to adopt a modular approach, through the incorporation of a Data Availability solution called EigenDA. 

Why Mantle differs from existing Ethereum’s Layer-2 solutions

Mantle sets itself apart from existing Ethereum’s Layer-2 solutions not only through technical innovation with a modular approach, but also through expansive ecosystem initiatives backed by $MNT, its native token.

The core aspect that makes Mantle unique is its modular architecture. Contrary to monolithic blockchains like Ethereum, which unify all 3 tasks (Execution, Settlement, Consensus) within the same network, Mantle’s model allows each task to be divided among independent network of nodes. This leads to increased efficiency and lower fees.

Alongside the implementation of optimistic roll-up technology to improve scalability, they also leverage an advanced Data Availability solution called EigenDA by EigenLayer.

While roll-ups improve transaction speed and reduce gas fees by shifting computation off-chain, the amount of data that needs to be stored will still increase tremendously over time as the participation rate in the network continues to grow. This is where EigenDA comes in: The additional data availability layers further reduce the load on the main chain by allowing a larger bulk of transactions to be processed and stored off-chain, leaving only the minimum necessary data to be posted back on-chain.

The combined use of both roll-up technologies and data availability layers offers a multi-pronged approach to ultimately tackle the issues of cost efficiency and scalability on Ethereum.

In addition to this pioneering technological innovation in the Layer-2 landscape, the Mantle team is also laser-focused on ecosystem initiatives, building attractive go-to-market strategies for builders, and enhancing the user onboarding experience.

$200 million ecosystem fund, backed by their treasury

Mantle’s DAO has announced the establishment of a $200 million ecosystem fund, fully backed by their treasury. Compared to other initiatives, such as Polygon’s $100 million fund and Injective’s $150 million ecosystem grant, Mantle’s initiative is the largest to date.

This fund will be allocated towards investments in promising projects to be built on the Mantle blockchain, and will be used to help bootstrap operations, provide advisory support, assist with launches, establish connections, and other forms of assistance needed to drive influence.

Over the next 3 years, this grant scheme is set to support more than 100 early-stage investment projects being built on the network. 

This represents Mantle’s commitment to fostering a strong developer community around its network and expanding the suite of applications in its ecosystem.

ByBit Community & Ecosystem Initiatives

Leveraging Bybit’s long-term established reputation and market share in the industry, Mantle can tap into a wide range of connections to sector leaders and protocols in the field.

Similarly, the marketing and promotional strategies by ByBit will significantly boost the network effects of Mantle. The ByBit Mantle quests serve as one such example.

Citizens of Mantle

The concepts of decentralized social platforms, non-fungible tokens, and gamification have been popular within the crypto hemisphere –- as we observed best during the last bull run.

Designed by internationally-acclaimed visual artist Chen Man, the Citizens of Mantle are avatars that will represent you throughout your journey in the ecosystem. With each task you complete within Mantle, such as playing, earning, and trading, your Citizen will evolve and reward you with unique traits.

This is a significant partnership in the Web3 venture. Chen Man’s works are part of permanent collections in prestigious museums, and she has worked with global icons such as Rihanna, David Beckham, and Anne Hathaway. 

$MNT Token

Previously known as $BIT, Bybit collaborated with Mantle in June 2023 to facilitate the conversion of $BIT to $MNT tokens after the approval of BIP-21 and BIP-22. The rebrand was kickstarted with the intention of improving its brand positioning and providing greater coherency to all participants. 

Mantle’s $MNT token is the network’s native cryptocurrency token, primarily serving governance and staking purposes. It allows token holders to participate in DAO proposal voting and decision-making processes. Additionally, unlike the Optimism and Arbitrum ecosystem tokens, $MNT also operates as a utility token and can be used for gas fees on the Mantle Network.

Here is the breakdown of the tokenomics & estimated distribution:

• Mantle Core Budget: 0.7% (over 42.9 million tokens)
• Mantle Treasury: 47.4% (over 2.9 billion tokens)
• Circulating Supply: 52% (over 3.2 billion tokens)

The $MNT distribution from the Mantle treasury covers user & partner incentives, core contributors & advisory services, and allocation for potential investments.

Conclusion

Mantle enters the race for Ethereum’s Layer-2 solutions with an innovative edge over existing competitors such as Optimism and Arbitrum. By combining the attributes of roll-up technologies with EigenLayer’s modular Data Availability solution, Mantle aims to significantly improve speed and scalability while maintaining low costs, all while capitalizing on Ethereum’s well-established network.

Moreover, its industry connections and backing from ByBit should further boost its market presence, with $MNT set to receive the benefits of the flywheel. Alongside the $200 million developer ecosystem fund and other community initiatives set in place, Mantle is poised to become a compelling player in the space.

Also Read: Solana Summer 2.0? Why DeFi Bulls are Placing Huge Bets on This Cryptocurrency

[Editor’s Note: This article does not represent financial advice. Please do your own research before investing.]

Featured Image Credit: Chaindebrief

Author: Jowella