When the Ethereum Layer2 (L2) ecosystem achieves 'scalable expansion' through Rollup, the industry falls into a new predicament: most Rollups have only completed 'asset on-chain' but cannot achieve 'value circulation'—royalty rules for NFTs become invalid after cross-chain, RWA assets struggle to connect with DeFi liquidity, and users bear high costs and security risks when crossing chains. Launched in 2022 by Constellation Labs Inc., Caldera does not enter with 'technical gimmicks', but focuses on the core contradiction of 'L2 scaling ≠ value flow', transforming 'isolated Rollup' into a 'value interoperable network' through the architecture of 'Rollup Engine (scenario-based development base) + Metalayer (value circulation hub) + $ERA (value collaboration certificate)'. All content is based on publicly accessible project technical documents, CoinGecko, and Dune Analytics third-party data, with no fictional cases, facts, or violations.

One, industry predicament: The 'value circulation gap' behind L2 scaling.

As of July 2025, the total locked value (TVL) of Ethereum L2 exceeds $35 billion, but the 'scaling bonus' has not translated into 'value bonus', primarily due to two major gaps:

1. Development side: 'On-chain but hard to adapt' scenario barriers.

Traditional Rollup development only addresses the 'technical on-chain' issue but fails to match the 'value attributes' of different tracks: NFT projects need enforceable royalty functions, RWA projects need compliance identity verification modules, and chain game projects require high-concurrency item transaction support—under traditional development models, projects need to invest an additional 6-12 months to develop customized functions, costing over a million dollars. For example, a certain RWA project had to abandon self-development and choose a centralized platform when attempting to deploy Rollup in 2024 due to a lack of compliance evidence modules, resulting in a loss of asset credibility.

2. Circulation end: 'Transferable but difficult to collaborate' value islands.

Each Rollup operates independently, forming 'value fragmentation': firstly, attribute loss; after NFTs cross from RARI Chain to other Rollups, core attributes such as royalty ratios and creator information often become invalid; secondly, low efficiency; traditional cross-chain average confirmations take 15-30 minutes, transaction fees account for 1.5%-3% of the cross-chain amount; thirdly, security risks; losses from cross-chain bridge attacks exceeded $1.5 billion from 2023 to 2024, and a certain tool had $320 million in assets stolen due to smart contract vulnerabilities. This model of 'only transferring assets, not collaborating value' has left the L2 ecosystem stuck in a 'scaling without circulation' deadlock.

Two, technological breakthrough: From 'development adaptation' to 'value circulation' full-chain collaboration.

Caldera's technological innovation is not a 'single-point breakthrough', but fills the gap between 'development and circulation' through the collaboration of two core components; all technical features come from the project (Technical White Paper V2.1) and publicly available architectural documents.

1. Rollup Engine: Scenario-based development, enabling value attributes to be 'embedded'.

Caldera's Rollup Engine is positioned as the 'L2 value development operating system', primarily solving the 'difficult development and poor adaptation' issues through 'modular scenario adaptation':

• Multi-framework compatibility + scenario modules: Supports four major frameworks including Arbitrum Nitro, Optimism Bedrock, zkSync ZK Stack, and Polygon CDK, while providing 'plug-and-play' modules for three major tracks: NFT, DeFi, and RWA—NFT modules include 'royalty enforcement' and 'cross-chain attribute synchronization' functions, RWA modules integrate 'compliance KYC interfaces' and 'asset confirmation evidence' tools, and chain game modules include 'high concurrency item trading' and 'off-chain computation verification' components. Developers do not need secondary development; they can deploy simply by selecting modules, shortening the development cycle from 8 months to 15 days.

• Full-chain customization + value calibration: Supports independently selecting execution layer virtual machines (EVM adapting to the Ethereum ecosystem, SolanaVM adapting to high concurrency), data availability (DA) solutions (Celestia reducing costs, mainnet DA ensuring security), and more crucially, the 'value attribute calibration' function—such as RWA projects being able to customize 'yield rights split ratios', and chain game projects setting 'item cross-chain value anchoring rules', ensuring that the value attributes of on-chain assets are not lost.

• Decentralized security + value verification: Upgrading the 'Guardian Nodes' mechanism, which not only verifies transaction data but also checks the 'authenticity of value attributes'—for example, before NFTs cross chains, nodes must verify if their royalty ratios are consistent with those set by creators; before RWA cross chains, it must confirm whether the asset confirmation documents are complete. As of July 2025, over 80 nodes have connected, with a value attribute verification accuracy rate of 99.98%.

2. Metalayer: The hub of value circulation, enabling inter-chain value to be 'collaborative'.

Metalayer is not a traditional cross-chain bridge but rather the 'L2 value collaboration hub', addressing the issues of 'difficult circulation and loss of attributes' through three major designs:

• Non-custodial value mapping: Instead of holding assets, it aggregates the 'assets + value attributes' of each Rollup into a 'global value hash' on-chain. When users cross-chain, they not only transfer asset quantities but also synchronize value attributes—such as NFT crossing from RARI Chain to inEVM, where the royalty ratio and creator information are fully retained after hash verification, effectively resolving the 'loss of attributes' pain point.

• Intent-based value routing: Users do not need to manually select paths; they only need to input 'value demand' (e.g., 'transfer 1000 USDT from Clearpool Ozean to inEVM for RWA pledge lending, arriving within 3 seconds'). The protocol automatically analyzes node bandwidth, transaction fees, and attribute synchronization capabilities to match the optimal route. Data shows that Metalayer's average cross-chain confirmation time is 3 seconds, with transaction fees only 1/5 of traditional bridging, and a 100% value attribute synchronization rate.

• Cross-chain value contract execution: Supports 'multi-chain value collaboration contracts'—for example, when users pledge credit assets in Clearpool Ozean (RWA Rollup), it can simultaneously trigger the lending contracts in inEVM (DeFi Rollup) to obtain USDT loans without step-by-step operations, achieving 'value circulation + functional execution' atomization.

Three, ecological validation: The data support of value circulation.

Caldera's ecological achievements are not mere 'project piling', but form a value closed loop through 'development-circulation' collaboration; all data comes from the project’s Q2 2025 (ecological report) and public data from Dune Analytics:

• Scaled scenario coverage: Over 50 mainnet Rollups have been launched, covering three major value tracks: the NFT field of RARI Chain (100% royalties credited, 100% cross-chain NFT attribute synchronization rate), the DeFi field of inEVM (80% improvement in cross-chain lending efficiency), and the RWA field of Clearpool Ozean (on-chain credit asset scale exceeding $120 million), with 15 Rollups having a TVL exceeding $10 million.

• Core value circulation data: In Q2 2025, the total cross-chain value circulation in the Caldera ecosystem reached $980 million, a year-on-year increase of 320%; the proportion of NFT cross-chain transactions increased to 28%, and the proportion of RWA and DeFi collaborative transactions reached 35%; user satisfaction in cross-chain operations reached 92%, far exceeding the industry average of 68%, primarily due to 'no loss of attributes, simplified operations, and reduced costs.'

• Ecological incentives and value feedback: 20% of the total ERA token supply (200 million tokens) will be used for 'value circulation incentives'—projects promoting cross-chain value circulation will receive ERA rewards based on circulation scale (5000 ERA for every $1 million circulated); users participating in RWA-DeFi collaborative transactions can receive a 0.1% ERA rebate; developers creating cross-chain value contract templates can receive up to $100,000 in $ERA rewards.

Four, token economics: The core hub of value collaboration.

$ERA is not a 'speculative tool', but is deeply bound to the entire process of 'value circulation' through functional design; all economic models come from the project (token white paper):

• Three major value collaboration functions: firstly, 'value circulation fuel', the only payment token for Metalayer cross-chain and value contract execution, solving the multi-chain currency confusion issue; secondly, 'value verification staking', where ERA holders become 'value verification nodes' after staking, earning an annualized return of 8%-12% based on 'circulation verification volume × attribute synchronization accuracy', with penalties of 30% for non-compliant nodes; thirdly, 'value governance certificate', participating in 'value circulation rule optimization' (such as RWA yield rights split ratio standards), and 'ecological fund allocation' (such as supporting cross-chain value contract development), users who hold ERA for over 6 months and promote value circulation enjoy double voting rights.

• Rigorous allocation and unlocking: Total supply of 1 billion tokens, distribution balances fairness and long-term value: community and users 37% (including 30% retroactive airdrop, 7% value circulation incentives), investors 32.075% (A round in 2023 raised $15 million, led by Founders Fund, with participation from Sequoia Capital and Dragonfly Capital), core team 14.75% (2-4 year linear unlocking, 1-year lock-up period), research and emergency reserve 16.175%, avoiding short-term selling pressure on value collaboration.

• Market and capital recognition: As of July 2025, $ERA is listed on top exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase, with a 24-hour trading volume of $48-62 million, a circulating market value of $245 million (ranked 278 on CoinGecko), and a price range of $0.98-$1.45, showing a steady upward trend supported by positive value circulation data and capital endorsement confirming its long-term value.

Five, the future: From 'value collaboration' to 'ecological symbiosis'.

Caldera's competitiveness lies in capturing the industry trend of L2 'from scaling to circulation', but it also faces challenges:

• Opportunities: firstly, deepening RWA-DeFi collaboration, planning to access credit assets from European SMEs, and pushing the on-chain RWA scale to exceed $500 million; secondly, upgrading Metalayer to 3.0, integrating EigenDA V2 to increase data throughput to 150MB/s, supporting 'cross-L2 value contract inter-call' (such as RWA collaboration between Arbitrum One and Caldera Rollup).

• Challenges: firstly, competition in the RaaS track is intensifying, with AltLayer and Conduit launching low-code tools, requiring strengthened differentiation in 'value circulation'; secondly, regulatory uncertainty, with global RWA regulatory policies becoming stricter, necessitating collaboration with auditing firms to improve compliance systems.

Conclusion

The value of Caldera is not about 'manufacturing technical concepts', but about becoming the 'value collaboration hub' of the L2 ecosystem through 'scenario-based development adapting value attributes' and 'Metalayer activating inter-chain value circulation'. Its innovative logic confirms the core trend of Web3 infrastructure—shifting from 'technical infrastructure' to 'value infrastructure'. In the future, as the Ethereum L2 ecosystem continues to expand, if Caldera can deepen value collaboration and comply with regulations, it is expected to drive L2 from 'isolated scaling' to a new stage of 'symbiotic circulation', providing key support for the large-scale realization of Web3 value.