Crypto Ecosystem V1.2: Support for Multichain Infrastructure and Tech Stack Projects

Multichain projects will be categorized as either “multichain infrastructure” or by the tech stack they support rather than individual blockchains.

The Crypto Ecosystems Taxonomy has been updated to Version 1.2.

Starting November 2024, projects supporting 10 or more chains will fall under either "multichain infrastructure" or a specific tech stack category (e.g. EVM) rather than counting toward each chain individually.

Exceptions Where Individual Chains Are Counted:

• If a project’s primary governance activity or token is hosted on a specific chain, that chain will count the project’s developers.
• Projects that broadly support a tech stack like "EVM" but also provide special support for fewer than 3 chains outside of that tech stack will count developers toward each of those individual chains.

Why Update?

Many projects now align with tech stacks rather than specific chains. This updated approach offers a more accurate reflection of ecosystem-specific developer contributions.

This open-source taxonomy has been a community effort to track developer activity in crypto since 2019. In 2019, almost all projects in crypto supported just one chain. Over time, many projects began to support users across multiple chains. Now, there are a class of projects that support tech stacks or aim to support all chains rather than any specific set of chains.

This taxonomy has been updated to continue to be an objective and transparent source adapted to the way crypto works today.

In Detail: Updated Project Categorization Framework

Single Chain Project: This project’s developers support one specific chain.

• Categorization: This project’s repository will be a child of the specific chain.
• Example: Raydium only supports Solana → Solana (parent)

Multichain Project: This project’s developers support a curated set of chains (fewer than 10 chains).

• Categorization: This project’s repositories are children of each supported chain.
• Example: Ondo Finance supports Ethereum, Solana, Mantle, Aptos, Arbitrum, Noble, Sui, Polygon → Ethereum, Solana, Mantle, Aptos, Arbitrum, Noble, Sui, Polygon (all parents of Ondo Finance)

Broad Tech Stack Project (e.g., EVM, SVM, Move, Substrate, Cosmos Network Infrastructure): This project’s developers support a tech stack (more than 10 chains).

Project that broadly supports all chains within a specific tech stack, like all EVM chains.

• Categorization: This project supports 10+ chains within a stack and its repositories are children of that stack’s general category (e.g., "EVM Category").
• Example: wevm (viem, wagmi) supports all EVM → EVM Category (parent)
• Example: Uniswap supports 20+ EVM chains and its governance token lives on Ethereum → EVM Category (parent), Ethereum (parent)

Project that broadly supports a tech stack like "EVM" but also provide special support for fewer than 3 chains outside of that tech stack.

• Categorization: This project’s repositories are children of the stack category and the individually supported non-stack chains.
• Example: Layer3 supports EVM chains and Solana, and its governance token lives on Ethereum → EVM Category (parent), Solana (parent), Ethereum (parent)

Multichain Infrastructure Project: This project’s developers support all or intend to support all chains. Projects supporting 10+ chains from both EVM and non-EVM ecosystems belong in the "Multichain Infrastructure" category.

• Categorization: This project’s repositories are children of the Multichain Infrastructure category.
• Example: Coinbase Wallet → Multichain Infrastructure Category (parent)
• Example: LayerZero is a message passing protocol that supports 70+ chains→ Multichain Infrastructure Category

Exceptions:

• A project will always be a child of the chain that hosts its governance token & governance activity. (See Governance & Native Token Exceptions for more details.)
• This updated framework uses 10 chains as a proxy for whether the project intends on supporting a tech stack or all chains. Classification should also take into account a project’s documentation and statement of intention for classification. For example, a project that has fewer than 10 chains but states that they intend on supporting all Substrate chains should still belong to the Substrate Category.

Governance & Native Token Exceptions

Project developers should also count toward the chains that host its native token and/or governance.

If primary governance happens on a chain, that chain should always get the project’s developers.

• Example: Uniswap parents are EVM Category and Ethereum because it supports 10+ EVM chains and its primary governance activity happens on Ethereum
  If native token lives on a chain, then that chain should always get the project’s developers. We ignore tokens that are bridged to other chains.
• Example: Wormhole parents are Multichain Infrastructure Category and Solana because Wormhole supports 10+ chains and its native tokens live on Solana. Wormhole tokens can also be found on other chains, but we ignore those chains as parents because the tokens are bridged.

If governance is meant to be multichain, then this clause does not apply.

• Example: Axelar is Multichain Infrastructure. Axelar has a governance token, but it supports multichain governance, so no specific chain is a parent of Axelar.

What are the different tech stacks?

• Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
• Cosmos Network Infrastructure
• Move
• Solana Virtual Machine (SVM)
• Substrate

Missing a tech stack? Please submit a PR.

What are some examples under this updated categorization framework?

• Uniswap → EVM Category and Ethereum
• 0x → EVM Category and Ethereum
• wevm (viem, wagmi) → EVM Category
• Rabbithole/Boost protocol → EVM Category
• Beefy Finance → EVM and Ethereum
• Wormhole → Multichain Infrastructure Category and Solana
• Ordinals wallet → Bitcoin
• Coinbase wallet → Multichain Infrastructure Category
• Thorchain → Multichain Infrastructure Category
• Axelar → Multichain Infrastructure Category
• Magic Eden → Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, Base
• Chainlink → Multichain Infrastructure Category and Ethereum

Updates for Multichain Crypto

Crypto Ecosystems V1.1: Updates for Multichain Crypto

The Crypto Ecosystems Taxonomy has been updated to Version 1.1.

Ecosystems that are Layer 1 and Layer 2 chains now list all projects that support their users as sub-ecosystems in their taxonomy.

Why update?

This open-source taxonomy has been a community effort to track developer activity in crypto since 2019. In 2019, almost all projects in crypto supported just one chain. Now, many projects support users across multiple chains.

This taxonomy has been updated to reflect that reality. In the newest version of this taxonomy, any project that supports multiple chains can be a sub-ecosystem of each chain it supports.

This taxonomy has been updated to continue to be an objective and transparent source adapted to the way crypto works today.

Uniswap as an Example of a Multichain Taxonomy

Previously, Uniswap was only considered a sub-ecosystem of Ethereum.

Now, Uniswap is a sub-ecosystem for Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism, and all other chains it supports. As Uniswap rolls out support for more chains, the community will add Uniswap as a sub-ecosystem to those chains.

How Did the Taxonomy Work Before Dec 2023?

Previously, projects were considered sub-ecosystems of a chain if they met 2 of the following conditions:

• The project launched on this chain first.
• The project's governance tokens lived on this chain.
• The primary medium of exchange for this project used this chain's tokens.
• The project's governance activity primarily happened on this chain.
• The project's team or website publicly mentioned support for this chain only.

This ruleset for determining sub-ecosystems worked well for a world where projects primarily supported a single chain. This is no longer the case today. Many projects do not have a "primary" home but instead equally support multiple chains as one of their core value propositions.

How Can I Keep Using V1 Until I'm Ready to Switch Over?

You can continue using v1.0 until you're ready to switch. Keep in mind that any new changes will generate new releases and previous releases won't be maintained.

Inception to December 2023 Taxonomy

Crypto Ecosystems V1.0: Original Primary-only taxonomy

How Does This Taxonomy Work?

Projects are considered sub-ecosystems of a chain if they met 2 of the following conditions:

• The project launched on this chain first.
• The project's governance tokens lived on this chain.
• The primary medium of exchange for this project used this chain's tokens.
• The project's governance activity primarily happened on this chain.
• The project's team or website publicly mentioned support for this chain only.