Key takeaways

• The best blockchain to build on is no longer decided by speed, because L2Beat alone tracks 101 Ethereum scaling networks and nearly all of them are fast and cheap.

• New chains from Robinhood, Kraken, Sony, World and Coinbase compete on the audience they bring, such as Robinhood's nearly 28 million customers and World's 38 million app users.

• Founders should choose a blockchain the way they choose an ad channel, by asking who its users are, how apps get discovered and what the platform will do to promote them.

Picking the best blockchain to build on used to mean comparing speed, with teams throwing around transactions per second and fee charts. That contest is over and nobody won it. L2Beat, the site that tracks Ethereum scaling networks, now lists 101 of them, and they're almost all fast, cheap and hard to tell apart. Blockspace, the raw capacity to process transactions, became a commodity the same way server space did before it.

So look at what the newest chains brag about instead. When Robinhood revealed its own blockchain in 2025, the pitch wasn't the technology, and when Robinhood Chain went live on 1 July 2026, it launched with stock tokens in more than 120 countries and a company serving nearly 28 million customers behind it. Kraken built its chain, Ink, to bring its ten million exchange users into DeFi, and deposits ran from $7 million to nearly $450 million in months. Sony's chain crossed 500 million transactions in its first year, and Telegram put a wallet inside a chat app with 87 million US users.

Blockspace is a commodity, but a funnel of nearly twenty-eight million customers is not.

What is the best blockchain to build on in 2026?

There is no single best blockchain to build on, because on speed and cost most options are now good enough. The best choice is the chain whose users match your customers and whose owner will actively put your app in front of them, whether that's Robinhood's investors, Coinbase's retail traders, World's verified humans or Telegram's chat users.

That's a different question from the one founders asked five years ago. "Which chain has the best tech" now has dozens of acceptable answers, so it doesn't narrow anything down. The questions that do are the ones you'd ask about any marketing channel, starting with who exactly is on this chain, how apps get discovered there, and what the platform will actually do to get its audience to try you.

A chain with half the speed but a real app store placement will do more for your growth than a technically perfect chain where discovery means posting your link in a Discord. And because most crypto projects end up marketing to the same ten million people, a chain that brings users who aren't already crypto natives is worth more than any benchmark.

Why chains now sell audiences instead of speed

The clearest example is World. Its year-end report claims 38 million app users, a new signup every 1.7 seconds and two billion mini-app opens in a year, and nearly 18 million of those users are verified as unique humans through its eye-scanning Orb devices. Whatever you think of the eye-scanning, look at the pitch to app builders, which isn't "deploy on our fast chain" but "we will deliver you millions of verified humans through our app store." That's a distribution pitch, not an infrastructure pitch.

Base, Coinbase's chain, completes the picture. It's the biggest Ethereum scaling network, securing about $15.98 billion in value, ahead of Arbitrum One at $11.41 billion, but its real asset sits above the chain in the form of Coinbase's roughly 8.7 million monthly transacting users and a relaunched app that pushes trading, social and payments in over 140 countries. Apps on Base aren't just renting capacity from Coinbase, they're standing in Coinbase's customer flow.

How do you choose a blockchain for your app?

Choose a blockchain the way you would choose an ad channel. Check that its active users match your target customer, ask how apps get discovered there, ask for examples of apps the platform promoted and what happened to them, and weigh the grant on offer against the distribution you'd get. Speed and fees only matter as a minimum bar.

It also means platform risk comes with the deal, which is the same trade the launchpads and Telegram games taught. A chain that brings you users is a chain that owns your funnel, and its priorities can change after one board meeting. You can read the power balance in advance, because the easier you are to replace, the worse your terms get over time.

Chain ecosystem incentives deserve the same skepticism. Grants and token rewards get the headlines, but they are a one-time payment, while a default spot in a wallet, a featured slot in an app store or a co-marketed launch keeps paying for as long as you hold it. If the ecosystem team can only talk about grants and speed, you've learned what the channel is worth.

What we'd tell a founder choosing the best blockchain to build on

Vet a chain like an ad channel, not a datacenter. Ask for the numbers a channel owner would show you, meaning active users who match your target customer, discovery surfaces, and the names of apps the platform actually promoted along with what happened to them.

Negotiate distribution before you negotiate grants. A hundred thousand dollars in tokens is spent once. Placement in front of the platform's users compounds, and most teams never ask for it, which is exactly why it's often available.

Match the audience, not the prestige. Robinhood's chain brings everyday investors who want stocks and yield, World brings verified consumers, Telegram brings chat-native users in payments-heavy countries, and Base brings US-leaning retail crypto users. A pro-trader product on World, or a consumer game on an institutional chain, is a mismatch no grant can fix.

Keep an exit you never have to use. Own your user relationships through your own channels, because wallets you can't reach aren't really your users. Know what a second deployment would cost you, since when leaving is credible you negotiate differently and get treated differently.

Chains spent a decade competing for developers with technology and grant money. Now the leverage has flipped, because the chains that captured audiences need apps good enough to keep those audiences busy. For the first time the platforms need your product as much as you need their users, so price your presence accordingly.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best blockchain to build on?

The best blockchain to build on is the one whose users match your customers and whose owner will promote your app. On speed and fees most chains are now similar, and L2Beat tracks 101 Ethereum scaling networks alone. Base leads them by value secured at about $15.98 billion, but audience fit matters more than rank.

How do I choose a blockchain for my project?

Start with your customer, then find the chain where they already are. Compare active users, discovery surfaces such as app stores and wallet placements, the platform's record of promoting apps, and the cost of leaving later. Treat grants as a bonus, because a one-time token payment is worth less than ongoing distribution.

What is the best blockchain for tokenization?

It depends on who you want to reach, but chains run by regulated brokers now target tokenized assets directly. Robinhood Chain, built on Arbitrum, went live in July 2026 with stock tokens available in more than 120 countries, backed by a company with nearly 28 million customers. That audience matters more than raw throughput.

How many layer 2 blockchains are there?

L2Beat, the main tracker of Ethereum scaling networks, lists 101 projects, made up of 23 rollups, 4 validiums and optimiums and 74 other networks. Base is the largest by value secured at about $15.98 billion, followed by Arbitrum One at about $11.41 billion.

Are blockchain ecosystem grants worth it?

Grants help, but they are usually a one-time payment. Distribution, such as a featured app store slot, a default wallet placement or a co-marketed launch to the platform's users, keeps paying for as long as you hold it. World pitches builders on reaching its 38 million app users through an in-app store, which shows where chains now think their real value sits.