MegaETH, a high-performance blockchain built to make Ethereum applications feel near-instantaneous, debuted on its public mainnet on Monday, entering an ecosystem mired in a fundamental debate over how Ethereum should scale.
The project, which had pitched itself as a layer-2 “real-time blockchain” targeting more than 100,000 transactions per second (tps), would make onchain interactions feel closer to traditional web apps than today’s crypto networks. Ethereum operates at less than 30 tps, according to Token Terminal.
The publication covers a rapid rise that has attracted both technical curiosity and great financial support. The project’s development arm, MegaLabs, raised a $20 million seed round in 2024 led by Dragonfly. Last October, it announced a $450 million oversubscribed token sale, backed by some of the most recognizable names in crypto, including Ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joe Lubin. The sale was one of the largest crypto fundraisers of that year.
The native token, MEGA, which supports the network’s economy, is not fully unlocked at launch. According to the team, token distribution and utility will roll out gradually, with certain unlocks tied to network usage milestones.
MegaETH’s debut comes as Ethereum’s multi-year scaling roadmap is being scrutinized, notably by Buterin. For years, the second-largest blockchain by market capitalization relied on layer-2 networks, offchain systems that batch transactions and settle them back at the base layer, to handle most of the ecosystem’s growth.
However, in recent discussions, Buterin has suggested that Ethereum may need to invest more in scaling the layer-1 network to reduce fragmentation and simplify the user experience.
These comments have ignited debate across the ecosystem. Proponents of layer 2s argue that the so-called rollups remain essential and are already delivering meaningful performance gains. Critics say an overreliance on them has spread liquidity and users across dozens of networks. MegaETH’s high-speed, low-latency design lands squarely in the middle of that argument, betting that there is still high demand for chains that push performance far beyond current norms.
Read more: MegaETH raises $450 million. in oversubscribed token sale backed by Ethereum founders
