Mantle Network: The Ethereum Layer 2 Solution for Next-Level Scalability
Ethereum remains the premier blockchain for developers, offering robust security and versatility. However, the network’s scalability challenges continue to result in high gas fees and network congestion, driving the development of alternative Layer 2 (L2) solutions designed to enhance throughput while preserving security.
Mantle Network stands out among L2 solutions with its modular architecture, which delivers hyperscalability and enterprise-grade security. Let's explore how Mantle Network approaches Ethereum scaling, along with its key innovations, the MNT token and other features that set it apart in the competitive L2 market.
Key Takeaways:
Mantle has evolved into a comprehensive hub for on-chain finance, powered by three core products: Mantle Network, mETH Protocol and Function (FBTC), with three more upcoming pillars of innovation announced including Mantle Enhanced Index Fund, Mantle Bank and MantleX.
Mantle Network is transitioning from an optimistic rollup to a zero-knowledge validity rollup, reducing transaction finality from seven days to just one hour.
Since its mainnet launch in July 2023, Mantle Network has processed over 175 million transactions and connected with 10 million unique wallets. It ranks among the top five Layer 2 solutions.
mETH Protocol has established itself as the fourth-largest Ethereum liquid staking token, while FBTC has reached $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) across multiple chains.
What Is Mantle?
Mantle is building the largest sustainable hub for on-chain finance. Through its core products — Mantle Network, mETH Protocol, and Function (FBTC) — Mantle is building banking for the next generation by leveraging the transformative power of blockchain. Anchored by the Mantle Treasury, the largest community-owned treasury in the ecosystem, Mantle ensures robust liquidity and financial stability.
With over $4.3 billion in assets, Mantle actively funds core product development and fosters the growth of asset partners, such as Agora AUSD, Athena USDe, Ondo USDY, and EigenLayer staking, enhancing sustainable yield, deep liquidity, and financial utility on the Mantle Network.
What Is Mantle Network?
Mantle Network is an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) solution that combines advanced blockchain scaling technology with practical usability. Its unique modular architecture allows it to process transactions more efficiently than traditional blockchain networks, while maintaining robust security. According to L2beat, it presently is the largest modular L2 network in the world.
The network is moving toward leveraging ZK validity rollups and EigenLayer’s EigenDA technology to ensure data availability and transaction processing, while remaining fully compatible with Ethereum's ecosystem. This makes Mantle Network an ideal foundation for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and financial services seeking scalability and security.
What’s the Difference Between Mantle and Mantle Network?
Think of Mantle as the entire financial ecosystem, while Mantle Network is the technological infrastructure that powers it. Mantle encompasses all products, partnerships and financial services, including its $4.3 billion treasury and relationships with protocols like Agora (AUSD) and Ethena USDe.
Mantle Network, on the other hand, explicitly refers to the L2 blockchain solution that enables fast, secure transactions. It's essentially the technical foundation that makes Mantle's broader financial vision possible.
Mantle’s Rebrand
The Mantle ecosystem emerged from a strategic transformation in 2023. Following a community vote with overwhelming support, BitDAO and Mantle united under a single brand and token — Mantle (MNT). This consolidation established Mantle Network as the Layer 2 technology name, and rebranded BitDAO as Mantle Governance.
More significantly, in 2024, Mantle evolved far beyond its initial identity as a Layer 2 network. Today's Mantle has transformed into a comprehensive on-chain finance ecosystem with six core products: Mantle Network, mETH Protocol, FBTC, Mantle Enhanced Index Fund, Mantle Banking, and MantleX.
What Does Mantle Network Aim to Achieve?
Mantle Network aims to become the premier "Liquidity Chain" for institutional-grade settlement and value transfer in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. By combining modular architecture, advanced data availability through EigenDA and zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs via Succinct's SP1, Mantle Network addresses the fundamental challenges facing blockchain adoption.
The network's transition to a ZK validity rollup significantly accelerates finality from seven days to just one hour — a critical improvement for institutional capital movement. This architectural approach maintains Ethereum's security guarantees while delivering the performance needed for high-value financial applications.
Beyond technical improvements, Mantle Network drives capital efficiency throughout the DeFi landscape. Its infrastructure supports the seamless, secure movement of institutional assets across traditional and decentralized markets, backed by the substantial Mantle Treasury, which ensures long-term development and stability.
Mantle Network vs. Other Ethereum Layer 2 Solutions
Mantle Network distinguishes itself in the crowded Layer 2 space through its unique combination of technical innovation and financial ecosystem integration. Unlike most L2s, which focus solely on scaling, Mantle leverages its treasury to create comprehensive infrastructure for on-chain finance.
A key differentiator is Mantle's EigenLayer-powered data availability solution, which provides security guarantees comparable to Ethereum’s while maintaining higher throughput. This addresses the security/performance tradeoff with which many competing L2s struggle.
The network benefits from an established ecosystem of financial partners, including Agora, Ethena and Ondo. These relationships provide Mantle Network with built-in liquidity and use cases that new L2s typically lack.
Governance remains fully decentralized through its DAO structure, with all decisions requiring approval from MNT token holders. This community-driven approach contrasts with more centralized decision-making in some competing L2 solutions.
Mantle Network: How Does It Work?
As a technology stack for scaling Ethereum, Mantle Network utilizes modular blockchain rollups, modular data availability and bridging to meet the needs of web3 without requiring compromise.
Modular Blockchain Rollups
Mantle Network employs a modular architecture that separates execution, consensus, settlement and data availability into specialized layers. This separation allows each component to be optimized independently, significantly reducing gas costs and enhancing performance.
Through its innovative design, the network addresses the blockchain trilemma of balancing scalability, security and decentralization. By distributing specific functions across specialized layers, Mantle achieves greater efficiency while maintaining robust security guarantees.
With its upcoming transition to a zero-knowledge validity rollup, Mantle is further enhancing its architecture. This implementation will reduce finality times from seven days to just one hour by using cryptographic proofs to verify transaction validity, rather than relying solely on the challenge period used in optimistic rollups.
This architectural approach ensures all users benefit from the same security level, not just full node validators on Ethereum's base layer. By optimizing the validation process, nodes don't need to execute all transactions for validity checking, thus significantly reducing computational requirements.
Data Availability
Mantle Network addresses data availability challenges by integrating with EigenLayer's EigenDA solution. The full mainnet integration is currently slated for Mar 19, 2025, which is in-line with the Pectra upgrade on Ethereum. As the first major adopter of EigenDA, Mantle leverages Ethereum's trust network to ensure data remains available while maintaining mainnet-level security.
EigenDA provides a specialized data availability layer separate from the consensus layer. This enables efficient data transmission between network participants through unicast channels. The system maintains an erasure rate, which allows complete block data to be reconstructed from pieces stored across both L2 and L1.
Validators can provide data availability services by staking MNT, thereby creating additional yield opportunities. These validators ensure block data completeness and accuracy on Mantle's execution layer.
Zero-Knowledge Validity Rollups
As mentioned above, Mantle Network is transitioning to a zero-knowledge validity rollup via Succinct's SP1 technology. By moving from optimistic rollups to ZK validity proofs, Mantle aims to enhance performance while maintaining robust security guarantees.
The new ZK system transforms transaction finality, reducing wait times from seven days to just one hour. This improvement comes from replacing challenge periods with cryptographic proofs that mathematically verify transaction validity. For institutional users, this means capital can move more efficiently without sacrificing security.
Succinct's SP1 technology enables Mantle to generate compact mathematical proofs that simultaneously validate entire batches of transactions. These proofs confirm that all state transitions are valid without requiring validators to re-execute each transaction. This approach preserves computational resources while ensuring network integrity.
Transaction Life Cycle
A transaction begins its journey when a user, decentralized application (DApp) or script initiates an action on Mantle Network. Using the Mantle SDK and supporting tools, the request is created, cryptographically signed with private keys and submitted to Mantle's Sequencer for processing.
The Sequencer orders and processes transactions before batching them into pending blocks. Mantle's batching mechanism distributes fixed costs across multiple transactions, significantly reducing fees compared to Ethereum's base layer.
With the transition to ZK validity rollups, Mantle now generates cryptographic proofs that mathematically verify the correctness of each transaction batch. These proofs eliminate the need for the lengthy challenge periods used in the previous optimistic model.
Once verified, the transaction data and validity proofs are sent to Ethereum for final settlement. Data availability nodes on Mantle Network ensure this information remains accessible to all network participants, and receive MNT tokens in return as a reward for their services.
Bridging
Mantle Network (L2) and Ethereum (L1) operate as distinct blockchain environments, requiring secure bridging infrastructure to transfer assets between them. The Mantle bridge facilitates seamless movement of ETH and ERC-20 tokens across these networks while maintaining asset recognition and integrity on both chains.
Using cryptographically secure protocols, Mantle's bridging solution verifies transaction validity and enforces proper asset locking and minting procedures. This maintains overall token supply integrity, while users also benefit from Mantle's speed and cost advantages.
MNT Tokenomics
The MNT token serves a dual purpose within the Mantle ecosystem as both a governance and utility token. Token holders participate in the Mantle DAO by voting on proposals, with each token carrying equal voting weight. For utility, MNT is used to pay network gas fees, and can serve as collateral for network operations.
Mantle Governance follows a deliberative process whereby community discussions can evolve into formal Mantle Improvement Proposals (MIPs) for token holder voting. Token holders must delegate their voting rights before participating, a requirement that doesn't lock or transfer their tokens.
The Mantle Treasury holds a significant portion of the MNT token supply, which it uses to fund ecosystem development, support partner protocols and ensure long-term sustainability. This treasury-backed structure provides Mantle with resources to drive continued growth and innovation across its ecosystem.
Mantle Network Road Map
Mantle has achieved significant milestones since launching its mainnet in July 2023. The network has processed over 175 million transactions and connected to 10 million unique wallets. It now ranks among the top five Layer 2 solutions, with $2.2 billion in total value locked (TVL).
In 2024, Mantle integrated with EigenLayer for enhanced security and data availability. mETH Protocol grew to become the fourth-largest Ethereum liquid staking token, with $2.19 billion TVL, while FBTC reached $1 billion across five chains by November 2024.
December 2024 marked a pivotal moment, with Mantle's announced transition from optimistic rollup to ZK validity rollup via Succinct.
Looking ahead, Mantle's road map includes its ZK rollup testnet launch in Q1 2025, followed by mainnet implementation. The network is expanding cross-chain capabilities via ERC-7683 and Chainlink CCIP integrations, positioning Mantle as the Liquidity Chain for the future of DeFi.
Where to Trade or Stake MNT
Looking to trade Mantle tokens? Bybit offers several MNT Spot trading pairs, such as MNT/USDT, MNT/USDC and MNT/BTC. Bybit also offers the MNTUSDT Perpetual contract, as well as MNTUSDC Perpetual contract. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the respective trading pages.
The Bottom Line
Mantle has established itself as a leading financial ecosystem in web3, distinguished by its $4.3 billion treasury and top-five Layer 2 ranking. With its upcoming transition to zero-knowledge validity proofs, integration with EigenLayer and three core products working in unison, Mantle Network offers a unique combination of security, scalability and financial infrastructure that positions it at the forefront of on-chain finance innovation.
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*Mantle Network is referred to as a rollup in this article for clarity reasons. As Mantle Network utilizes EigenDA rather than 4844, it is more precisely a Validium.