Most DeFi users can list the Layer-1 and 2 networks where they ply their trade but ask them about Layer-3s and they’re likely to draw a blank. It’s not that they haven’t been using them; rather it’s that in many cases they haven’t been aware that they’re using them. This is a feature, not a bug. While L3 can be used for many things, such as deploying dedicated appchains for services such as PerpDEXs, their greatest utility has proven to be in the field of infrastructure delivery.
Rather than trying to draw users away from L1 and 2, Layer-3s are trying to make the former’s experience better by piping vital services directly to them – chiefly data and liquidity. As a result, L3s are the unsung heroes of the omnichain landscape, doing the heavy lifting that enables advanced DeFi functionality on DEXs, lending platforms, and prediction markets to name but a few. In 2025, the leading Layer-3s have reshaped onchain experiences without most users even realizing it. This is the story of that silent revolution.
Cartesi Rollups: Off-Chain Computation for DeFi Strategies
Cartesi Rollups exemplify what Layer-3 adds to the mix, forming a modular solution that can be plugged into existing decentralized infra, enabling developers to offload complex calculations without sacrificing security and verifiability. Cartesi leverages a deterministic RISC-V emulator running Linux OS, allowing dapps to process transactions with custom code in familiar programming languages, far removed from the gas-constrained environments of Ethereum’s Layer-1.
This modularity, spanning consensus, data availability, and settlement, means DeFi protocols can execute sophisticated logic, such as algorithmic trading or risk modeling off-chain, while settling verifiable outputs onchain after a dispute window. The logical appeal here is clear: DeFi thrives on efficiency, and Cartesi’s approach slashes gas costs by orders of magnitude – often reducing them by 100x compared to onchain execution – while maintaining Ethereum-level security through optimistic rollups.
For instance, in yield farming or options pricing, where real-time data crunching is essential, Cartesi enables trustless relaying of onchain information and automated asset management, turning multi-hop processes into seamless operations. Cartesi has really come of age this year with integrations like EigenLayer’s restaking mechanism boosting DeFi apps by enhancing liquidity and AI-driven strategies. Cartesi-powered DeFi dapps are capable of handling more complex transactions per block than traditional L2s, enabling onchain protocols to scale while reducing user friction.
zkStack Deployments: Custom L3s for DeFi and Gaming
zkStack, the modular framework from zkSync, is a highly customizable solution that empowers builders to craft hyperchains that scale DeFi applications, fortified with zero-knowledge proofs for unparalleled privacy and throughput. Unlike rigid L2 solutions, zkStack’s Elastic Chain architecture allows for native interoperability across an expanding network of ZK rollups, where chains share liquidity pools and DeFi protocols without the silos that plagued earlier blockchain implementations.
The process is streamlined via the ZK Stack CLI that allows developers to initialize ecosystems, deploy custom base tokens, and bridge assets seamlessly, all while taking advantage of local testing environments for rapid iteration. This modularity addresses two of DeFi’s core pain points – scalability and composability – by enabling custom chains with tailored tokenomics, reducing latency to sub-second finality, and cutting fees by up to 90% through batched proofs.
In DeFi, this supports use cases such as lending or derivatives, where the ability to tap into cross-chain liquidity prevents fragmentation. For gaming, it supports NFT marketplaces with DeFi integrations like collateralized loans. This year, zkStack’s decentralized prover network has driven adoption, with Elastic Chains attracting $181 million in DeFi TVL and 177% growth in January alone. This silent infrastructure upgrade is delivering a plug-and-play omnichain reality, where users trade across ecosystems without noticing the underlying L3 orchestration linking it all together.
Orbs on ArbiDex and BaseSwap: Quietly Elevating User Experience
If there’s one L3 infra provider that embodies the sort of use cases Layer-3 is tailor made to support – and the tangible ways in which it can enhance existing dapps, DEXs, especially – it’s Orbs. Its tentacles have now extended to DEXs operating across an array of EVM and non-EVM chains including Layer-2s Arbitrum and Base, where its flagship technologies have been widely integrated. Orbs’ goal of infusing DeFi with CeFi-grade execution through specialized tools like dLIMIT and dTWAP has found product market-fit on decentralized exchanges seeking to add advanced features with minimal overhead.
Designed for aggregated liquidity and advanced trading, Orbs allows DEXs to add support for precise order types that minimize slippage and optimize for volatility – features once synonymous with centralized exchanges. On ArbiDex and BaseSwap, these integrations have taken the form of dTWAP, which splits large swaps into smaller increments, and dLIMIT, allowing traders to time their entry into the market.
The real power here lies in Orbs’ abstraction: by layering liquidity aggregation atop L2s, it enhances UX without requiring users to switch networks. The improvements its dLIMIT and dTWAP protocols have made to spot DEXs have since been complemented by Perpetual Hub Ultra, which delivers perps to DEXs on demand – as the likes of SpookySwap and THENA have discovered. These “quiet” yet tangible enhancements make DeFi more accessible and capable of giving CEXs a run for their money. Orbs exemplifies everything that L3s are optimized for: delivering sophisticated tools that feel intuitive, making life easier for onchain protocols and users alike.
Arbitrum Orbit: Permissionless Rollups for Custom Dapps
Arbitruma Orbit addresses a different L3 use case by delivering a permissionless stack for launching tailored rollups. This allows dapps to dictate their own rules in terms of things like throughput, storage, and settlement while inheriting Arbitrum’s upgrades such as 250ms block times and Stylus’ WASM VM. This allows DeFi projects to create specialized chains for RWAs or DEXs with seamless interoperability and custom gas mechanics.
Orbit’s modularity breaks new ground when it comes to bolstering DeFi’s interoperability. Its chains route assets effortlessly, accessing shared liquidity without requiring cross-chain bridges while significantly slashing settlement times and costs. With grants from the Arbitrum Foundation fueling over 50 DeFi-focused deployments, Orbit’s adoption has surged as custom dapps dedicated to DAOs, NFTs, gaming, and of course DeFi have launched, creating an array of Arbitrum-powered L2s that are anchored to Ethereum.
Layer-3 Is Hiding in Plain Sight
Despite ostensibly being the top layer that’s built upon existing L1 and L2 networks, Layer-3 is paradoxically the least visible. Much of the time, it’s hard to visualize exactly what Layer 3 infra is doing to enhance the onchain landscape. But even if you can’t see it directly, you can certainly feel its second-order effects. If you know what you’re looking for, the signs are out there: DEXs blessed with far deeper liquidity than should ordinarily be available on their chosen chain; lending platforms allowing assets deposited on one chain and borrowed against on another; and PerpDEXs able to list hundreds of assets with high leverage.
Where L2s have driven down fees and increased throughput, L3s – particularly those developed by infrastructure providers such as Orbs – have added the missing pieces like the liquidity to ensure Layer-2s can match anything that L1s – or even CEXs – can offer. Blockchain scaling didn’t start with Layer-3s but it looks like finishing with them: they are the endgame that brings DeFi’s multi-year scaling challenges to a close. Quietly but steadily, the battle has been won.
