Layer 1 (L1)
A base blockchain with its own consensus and security — Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana — the foundation everything else builds on.
A Layer 1 is a sovereign blockchain: it runs its own consensus, has its own native coin, and settles finally on its own ledger. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain are L1s; their coins occupy most of the top of our screener.
L1 design is trade-off allocation — the trilemma of security, decentralization and throughput. Bitcoin maximizes conservatism; Ethereum outsources scale to Layer 2s; Solana pursues speed on one integrated chain. “Ethereum killers” have been announced yearly since 2017; network effects, developer bases and battle-tested security have proven harder to replicate than transaction counts.