Ethereum’s $ETH scaling race is heating up — and it’s no longer about just tech. In 2025, liquidity is the real battlefield. The biggest players? Arbitrum (ARB), Optimism (OP), and Base (BASE).
1️⃣ Arbitrum ($ARB ) – Still the TVL king, attracting whales and DeFi giants with deep liquidity pools. But maintaining dominance requires constant incentives.
2️⃣ Optimism ($OP ) – Backed by Coinbase and the Optimism Collective, it’s betting on governance + ecosystem partnerships to stay ahead.
3️⃣ Base ($BASE) – The newest contender, leveraging Coinbase’s massive user base and onboarding power. Retail adoption is its biggest weapon.
💡 Why this matters:
Liquidity = traders, traders = fees, and fees = growth. Whoever wins the liquidity wars could end up as Ethereum’s “default” Layer 2 — pulling in billions in TVL.
🔥 The Big Question:
Will whales stick with ARB’s deep pools, migrate to OP’s governance-driven model, or flow into BASE’s retail pipeline?