Mantle is an Ethereum Layer 2 network built using the OP Stack rollup framework with a unique data availability layer — instead of posting data to Ethereum, Mantle uses EigenDA (EigenLayer’s data availability service) to reduce costs further. Launched in 2023, Mantle was incubated by BitDAO, one of the largest crypto DAOs, which rebranded as Mantle after merging. This gave Mantle an unusually large treasury ($4+ billion at launch) to fund ecosystem development. Mantle is EVM-compatible, meaning all Ethereum smart contracts deploy without modification. MNT is the native gas token and governance token. Mantle’s key differentiators: its massive treasury for incentivising developers and liquidity, its institutional connections through Bybit exchange (a major investor), and mETH Protocol — Mantle’s liquid staking product for Ethereum that became one of the fastest-growing liquid staking tokens. The Mantle ecosystem includes a large DeFi presence with native DEXes, lending markets, and yield protocols funded by its DAO treasury. Mantle has been particularly aggressive in deploying treasury funds to bootstrap liquidity — a strategy sometimes called ‘treasury-as-marketing.’ MNT staking allows token holders to participate in governance of both the Mantle L2 and its expanding product suite.
Example: A DeFi protocol wants to launch on a new L2 with deep liquidity from day one. They apply for a Mantle ecosystem grant — the DAO votes to deploy $5M of treasury funds as liquidity incentives. Within 30 days, the protocol has $50M TVL on Mantle, attracting organic users who follow the yield. Mantle’s treasury makes it a competitive ecosystem-building machine.
Learn more: Mantle Network
