Synthetix, a leading DeFi protocol for synthetic assets and perpetuals trading, has returned to the Ethereum mainnet after operating primarily on layer 2 networks like Optimism for about three years. The relaunch of Synthetix’s perpetual DEX went live on the mainnet in a private beta limited to 500 whitelisted traders.
In 2022, Synthetix left Ethereum Mainnet, lured by the low fees and abundant blockspace of Optimism. But we quickly (slowly) learned that the layer-two scaling roadmap had some harsh trade-offs for applications. High gas fees and congestion drove Synthetix to L2s in 2019, fragmenting liquidity across chains.
But Synthetix says Ethereum’s upgrades have now resolved these issues, allowing high-volume DeFi products like a perps DEX to thrive on mainnet security. The move underscores growing confidence in Ethereum’s mainnet capacity for high-volume DeFi.
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