Metis Launches Decentralized Sequencer On Testnet Following Meteoric Growth

Metis, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, launched a decentralized sequencer on testnet as the project seeks to differentiate itself from rival projects within Ethereum’s growing L2 ecosystem.

Metis launched its decentralized sequencer on the Sepolia Ethereum testnet on Jan. 15, urging users to help stress-test the feature. Metis said testnet participants will be rewarded with Community Testing points.

“Metis is committed to pioneering the development of the first Ethereum Layer 2 rollup featuring a decentralized sequencer,” Metis said. “We encourage our community members to test and explore diverse DApps actively on the Sepolia Testnet.”

Metis said that several DeFi dApps are currently live on its Sepolia deployment to stress-test the sequencer. Said dApps include decentralized exchanges supporting stablecoin, perpetuals, and token swaps in the form of Hummus Exchange, Tethys Finance, and Netswap, in addition to the League Tech socialfi platform and Midas Games predictions market.

Metis said users can earn points by completing actions on each protocol, with rewards decreasing by 25% with each repeated action. The project said it will reveal details for its second season of community testing soon.

Incentives propel massive growth for Metis

The news follows a recent surge in Metis’s total value locked (TVL) following the Dec. 18 announcement of the Metis Ecosystem Development Fund — which will distribute 4.6M METIS tokens to native DeFi dApps this month. The project also offered 100,000 METIS to network users in September.

Metis now ranks as the third-largest Layer 2 network by TVL after growing 776% from $108M on Dec. 19 to $946M today, according to L2beat. Data from DeFi Llama also shows a 162% increase in the value of assets held in Metis-based dApps from $31.6M to $82.9M over the same period.

The price of the METIS token has also enjoyed meteoric growth over the past 30 days, surging 384% to $118.4, according to CoinGecko.

However, Metis’s surging growth has failed to translate to a significant increase in on-chain activity, with the network processing an all-time high throughput of just 1.55 transitions per second (TPS) on Jan. 6. Metis hosted a meager 0.39 TPS over the past 24 hours on average, ranking 17th among Layer 2 networks.

Sequencer decentralization

Metis aims to establish a point of difference from rival L2s by becoming the first project to fully decentralize its sequencer.

Sequencers are responsible for collecting and ordering users’ transactions, with Ethereum’s leading Layer 2s all currently maintaining centralized sequencers. Centralized sequencers allow a project’s team to delay, reorder, or censor transactions, with U.S.-based teams being forced to comply with U.S. Treasury Department sanctions. They also pose a central point of failure for networks.

Arbitrum, the leading L2 by TVL, has engaged Espresso Systems to explore decentralized sequencing for Arbitrum. Optimism also cites sequencer decentralization as a future priority in its documentation, while ZkSync era has described the move as a future objective that is “non-negotiable.”