Tezos, Zilliqa, EOS, Celo, Velas and the fall from grace

The battle for the best blockchain for developers and users has been won by the likes of Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, and Base. Many contenders who were hoping to take on Ethereum have faced substantial challenges and evolved into ghost chains. 

A ghost chain is defined as a blockchain network that lacks any development and dApps in its ecosystem. This article looks at some of these chains.

Tezos | XTZ

Tezos is one of the top ghost chains in the blockchain industry. It was launched in 2018 to take on Ethereum, a blockchain network known for its slow speeds and high transaction costs. 

Tezos is an incredible fast blockchain with low transaction costs and is highly scalable, thanks to its modular architecture. Over the years, the network has spent millions of dollars in marketing.

Its most popular marketing approach was its partnership with Manchester United, one of the most popular clubs in the English Premier League (EPL). It was also a leading partner of Red Bull Racing, a team that has won the past two championships in Formula 1.

These partnerships have helped it reach millions of people from around the world. However, its ecosystem still lags that of popular blockchains like Solana and Base. Its website shows 85 projects, with 17 of them being in the decentralised finance (DeFi) industry. 

Additional data shows that its DeFi ecosystem is relatively smaller compared to other bigger chains. It has a total value locked (TVL) of over $54.2 million and a stablecoin market cap of $50.2 million. At its peak, Tezos had a market cap of over $6.7 billion, a figure that has dropped to $743 million. 

Fun fact: Tezos is the seventh biggest private company holder of Bitcoin. It holds 6,170 coins worth over $400 million.

Zilliqa | ZIL

Zilliqa is another blockchain network that has gone through substantial challenges in the past few years. In this period, it has moved from a top-20 cryptocurrency worth over $2.65 billion into a small one valued at $314 million. It is now the 163rd biggest cryptocurrency in the world.

Zilliqa’s downfall has been a sad tale since it is a major innovator that introduced the concept of sharding that has now been embraced by blockchains like Near, Ethereum, and MultiverseX, formerly known as Elrond. 

Zilliqa’s ecosystem has continued narrowing. For example, it only has a DeFi TVL of just $1.74 million and a stablecoin valuation of $3.18 million. 

EOS | EOS

EOS is another blockchain network that has fallen from grace in the past few years. The network is backed by Block.one, a company that raised over $4 billion in its initial coin offering (ICO). Block is also one of the biggest Bitcoin holders, with over 164,000 coins worth over $10 billion. 

EOS’s goal has been to create a solid alternative to Ethereum, which it has failed to achieve over the years. It has also incorporated Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) capabilities in its network. 

Data shows that EOS has a TVL of over $133 million in assets, down from a peak of $350 million in 2021. Some of the top dApps in the ecosystem are EOS REX, EOS RAM, and DefiBox. Along the way, its market cap has slumped from over $15 billion to $900 million. Tether has also stopped minting its stablecoin on EOS.

Velas Blockchain | VLX

Velas Blockchain has also had a big fall from grace. Its market cap has dropped from over $1.2 billion to over $18.4 million today. It has moved from a top 100 coin into being ranked at 818. 

At the same time, the volume of assets in its DeFi platforms have moved from over $50 million in 2021 to just $1.29 million. Its 24 hour volume stood at just $9. 

This is a big decline for a blockchain that spent millions of dollars as the lead sponsor of Ferrari’s Formula 1 team. In many instances, companies commit over $50 million annually to become a Ferrari sponsor. 

Celo | CELO

Celo is a blockchain network that transitioned into an Ethereum layer 2 network in 2023. A layer 2 network is a blockchain that aims to supercharge the main blockchain by handling transactions off-chain. The industry is now dominated by the likes of Arbitrum, Polygon, and Base Blockchain. 

Unlike the other blockchains in this list, Celo has attracted many developers. DeFi Llama data has identified over 40 dApps in its ecosystem. However, the total value locked (TVL) in the network has dropped from over $1.2 billion in 2021 to just $95 million. Most of these funds are in Mento, Uniswap, and Moola Market, which have $65 million, $22.2 million, and $2.91 million in assets. 

There are other networks that have evolved into ghost chains. Perhaps, Cardano, a network valued at over $15 billion is the biggest one. The other notable ones are Algorand, Mina Protocol, and Kadena.

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