Original Title: "The Destiny Gifted to You by Public Chains Has Long Been Marked with a Hidden Purpose"

Original Source: Deep Tide TechFlow

The future of the industry, the future of public chains, still hangs in the balance.

Looking back at the last round of the market, the biggest play can actually be summarized as PVP. Go PVP here, go PVP there, go PVP on any chain that still has some heat and narrative.

As we enter 2025, these chains have also long entered the stage of stock competition --- from the Hundred Chains War for the title of Ethereum Killer a few years ago, to now most chains being labeled "not even used by dogs," those that remain are also working hard to solve their own survival problems.

Not only are the junior players engaging in PVP, these chains are also engaging in PVP. It's just that every chain seems to want to replicate Solana's buzz, but no matter how much they toss and turn, they can't replicate Solana's Meme frenzy.

One region nurtures one type of people, and perhaps one public chain can only do one thing. Every surviving public chain has already been secretly marked with a purpose.

Recently, the overseas news and research institution Syndica (@Syndica_io) released a March L1/L2 Data Insight Report, which made this sense of destiny more tangible through numbers:

· In all Solana transactions, 72% are related to decentralized exchanges (DEX), obviously consistent with your impression of dog fighting.

· Base has 51% of transactions used for token transfers;

· ETH has nearly 40% of transactions used for cross-chain transfers (shown in the purple bar in the above figure)

Delphi Digital's research director @ceterispar1bus, when faced with this set of data, directly pointed out the essence:

Solana is for transactions, Base is for Coinbase's USDC accounting, Ethereum is for cross-chain asset transfers

Reaching this point in the industry today, projects are no longer simply competing technically, but are finding their own "anchor" --- a purpose positioning that makes perfect sense.

It's an Identity Tag, But More Importantly, It's Destiny

Superficially, the use case of a public blockchain seems like something chosen by users and the market. However, upon closer inspection, it appears more like the result of an underlying valuation of resources and background.

Summarizing the identity labels of three public blockchains:

Solana is a trading hotbed, Base has become Coinbase's "chief accountant," and Ethereum has been hijacked by bridges, accelerating asset outflows. Behind the current state of each chain, there are both technical and non-technical driving forces.

Let's start with Solana.

In 2025, Solana's on-chain ecosystem remains the liveliest Meme trading hotbed in the industry. The DEX trading volume in its ecosystem has consistently held the top spot for two consecutive months, far ahead in market share. Since October 2024, Solana has been minting over 500,000 MEME tokens per month, resembling an endless "dog party."

The junior developers are bravely brainstorming and seeking angles, while traders are busy monitoring pools and front-running. When someone brings up Solana to those who have dabbled in memes, the immediate response is, "Isn't this chain just a big casino?"

Solana's high throughput (TPS is 12 times that of Base) and low cost (over 0.01 USD transactions are dominant) form the foundation of its trading hotbed. According to the Syndica report, Solana leads in small transactions (less than $100), suitable for high-frequency MEME coin trading.

As for whether it is centralized or decentralized, in terms of practicality and user experience, it may not be that important. What is more crucial is the initial advantage in resource endowment.

Between 2019 and 2023, Solana received support from investors such as a16z, Multicoin Capital, attracting DeFi and MEME coin developers through grants and incubators. Solana's Breakpoint conference has also often become an inspiration for meme coins. Do you remember two years ago when Toly appeared at the conference in a green cartoon dragon costume, triggering a wave of attention to the phenomenon-level meme SillyDragon?

Founders actively shape their image, intentionally or unintentionally suggesting a certain meme association, which has gradually become a common practice today. The community culture has also "reserved" its meme soil, making Solana a paradise for "grassroots players" through social media (such as X) and meme coin competitions. PEPE, BONK, and POPCAT have also successfully formed a positive feedback loop.

User mindset is boxed in: "Solana=Transactions," with all sorts of shady Devs rushing in, Pumpfun's appearance seems even more natural.

Let's talk about Base.

There are also Memes on Base, and in the recent wave of AI Agent hype, there is no lack of impressive tokens in the ecosystem. However, this seems more like a result of the previous Solana fund overflow and low PVP difficulty arbitrage behavior. Data from March shows that 51% of transactions on Base are token transfers, with a deeper reason being the relationship between Coinbase and Circle.

In 2018, Coinbase and Circle jointly established the Centre Consortium, an organization specifically responsible for the issuance and management of USDC. As co-founders, Coinbase and Circle not only jointly promoted the widespread adoption of USDC but also, through Centre, established operational standards for USDC. As Coinbase's "brainchild," Base has become the preferred channel for USDC transfers.

Furthermore, IPO documents recently submitted by Circle show that Coinbase and Circle have a clear profit-sharing agreement regarding USDC—Coinbase takes a 50% cut from the residual earnings of the USDC reserve. This means that every time Coinbase settles a USDC transaction or promotes the use of USDC, they get a bigger slice of the pie.

Base's low cost and high efficiency are perfectly suited to this "accounting" demand—whether it's internal fund transfers at Coinbase or user USDC transactions, Base can efficiently record and manage these on-chain activities, such as transaction records, liquidity management, and settlement operations. This "accounting" not only reduces Coinbase's operating costs but also generates direct revenue through USDC profit sharing.

Looking at the ecosystem culture, Base is more inclined to serve institutions and compliant users. Coinbase's 100M+ users are mostly "legitimate players," so developers naturally wouldn't choose Base to host a wild "party." Since its inception, Base has been strategically designated by Coinbase and Circle as the "accountant" of USDC, firmly constrained by this pair of partners' interest chain.

Speaking of Ethereum, it is undoubtedly a disappointing old topic. Nearly 40% of transactions are related to cross-chain bridging, turning it into a "transit station" for other public chains.

The price of ETH is more like being toasted over a fire, gradually losing moisture. Although Ethereum is still the leader in DeFi, with a TVL share of over 60% (Syndica data), the community's negative sentiment is spreading. Ethereum's "bridging destiny" is technically driven by high Gas fees. When the market is bullish, ordinary users are already overwhelmed, only able to transfer assets to a lower-cost chain via cross-chain bridges; not to mention that there is nothing to do when the market is bearish.

Furthermore, ETH's mainnet throughput is also limited, far from the high performance of Solana, and the low transaction efficiency further increases the demand for cross-chain bridges. The deeper reason lies in the diversion of historical status.

As the earliest smart contract platform, Ethereum has accumulated the most assets and dApps, naturally becoming a hub for cross-chain bridges. Ecosystem path dependence has led DeFi projects and funds to concentrate on Ethereum, but high costs force users to flow out, making bridging a "necessary choice." At the same time, the rise of Layer 2 has diverted users, multiple rounds of adjustments by the Ethereum Foundation, accusations of Vitalik and women being idle, a price drop where even breathing is wrong...

The dream is the "world computer," the reality is the "ATM." Its fate seems to be locked by network effects and market changes, transitioning from DeFi overlord to asset transfer station. Ethereum's breakout path is probably more challenging than Solana and Base.

Accept Destiny, Find an Anchor

In the 2025 public chain competition, it is no longer the frenzy of a hundred-chain battle, but the calm of a stock game. The survival path of public chains ultimately boils down to "accepting destiny, finding an anchor." Transactions can be an anchor, the circulation of stablecoins can be an anchor, and even cross-chain can be. However, the solidification of the "anchor" also means that the imaginative space for public chains is compressed.

Can Solana shake off the label of the "Meme Casino"? Can Base break free from the "bookkeeper" box? Can Ethereum break out of the "transit station"? These questions do not have answers. But more ironically, most small P players do not care about these questions.

They just go to whichever chain is trending to "dogfight," and they go to whichever chain has arbitrage opportunities to "take advantage." The battle of public chains is actually just the backdrop behind each passerby eager to cash in and dream of a thousandfold return. Perhaps only with the arrival of the next cycle will the real answer be given—who can bring in incremental value, who can find a new "anchor."

The future of the industry, the future of public blockchains, is still undecided.

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