What Are the Top 5 Crypto Projects Changing Web3 Infrastructure?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• ETH remains the core execution layer powering most dApps and cross-chain smart contract activity in Web3.
  
• Arbitrum leads Layer-2 scaling with efficient optimistic rollups and a quick-growing ecosystem.
  
• EigenLayer introduces a new shared-security model through ETH restaking, lowering beginup costs for new networks.
  
• zkSync uses zero-knowledge proofs to deliver high-performance, privacy-preserving scalability for next-gen applications.
  
• IPFS provides decentralized storage for NFTs, dApp frontends, and global content distribution.
  
• These five projects work together to solve the blockchain trilemma across scalability, security, and decentralization.
  
• Their combined innovations set the foundation for mass Web3 adoption in 2025 and beyond.

 

The rapid evolution of has shifted the focus from hype-driven tokens to real infrastructure projects that improve scalability, decentralization, security, and data availability.

As blockchains expand into financial applications, social networks, gaming ecosystems, and AI-driven systems, the demand for more advanced infrastructure grows. Five projects stand out for their transformative impact on Web3 in 2025: ETH, Arbitrum, EigenLayer, zkSync, and IPFS.

These initiatives address long-standing bottlenecks, high fees, sluggish throughput, fragile interoperability, and centralized storage. Their innovations allow developers to build quick, secure, censorship-resistant applications that can onboard millions of users. Collectively, they represent the backbone of next-generation Web3.

1. ETH: The Execution Layer of Web3

continues to serve as the foundation of decentralized applications. As the first smart-contract platform to gain global adoption, it now powers thousands of dApps across DeFi, NFTs, social platforms, and gaming.

Post-Merge improvements, especially the shift to proof-of-stake, have drastically cut energy usage and improved network efficiency.

The introduction of proto-danksharding (EIP-4844) has reduced data costs for Layer-2s and boosted throughput, laying the groundwork for full sharding. Developers also enjoy a mature toolkit, including Truffle, Hardhat, Foundry, and a vast open-source ecosystem that accelerates experimentation and deployment.

ETH’s EVM compatibility remains a major advantage. The EVM functions as a universal standard: dozens of chains support it, and developers can deploy smart contracts across chains with minimal changes. This interoperability ensures consistency in tooling, security audits, and user experience.

Even with competition from alternative L1s, ETH still secures the majority of value in Web3. Its role as the settlement layer backed by billions in staked ETH cements its dominance.

The network processes the highest-value transactions and remains the base for leading DeFi protocols like Aave, Uniswap, Maker, and Lido.

2. Arbitrum: Scaling ETH for Mass Adoption

Layer-2 technologies are essential to scaling ETH without sacrificing decentralization. Among them, Arbitrum has emerged as the leading L2 by transaction volume, developer activity, and total value locked.

Arbitrum’s core innovation lies in optimistic rollups, which batch thousands of off-chain transactions and settle them on ETH. This process reduces Transaction fees by 10×: 100× while maintaining ETH-level security. Over time, upgrades like Arbitrum Nitro have improved execution speed, lowered latency, and enhanced compression.

What sets Arbitrum apart is its emphasis on flexibility. Arbitrum Orbit allows teams to launch custom L3 chains with specific configurations for , gaming, or enterprise applications. This approach unlocks specialized scaling without fragmenting liquidity.

The ecosystem has become a magnet for developers, assisted by grants and support programs, attracting hundreds of projects. Arbitrum now powers large SocialFi and GameFi communities, offering high throughput with EVM equivalence, meaning developers can migrate from ETH seamlessly.

As Web3 apps demand millions of daily transactions, Arbitrum has positioned itself as a key infrastructure layer for cost-efficient and secure scaling.

3. EigenLayer: A New Security Marketplace for Web3

Security has always been one of Web3’s most expensive bottlenecks. New chains and protocols traditionally needed their own Block confirmer networks and tokenomics to secure operations. EigenLayer disrupts this model through restaking a mechanism that lets users reuse staked ETH to secure additional networks and services.

This creates a shared security marketplace. Instead of building from scratch, new protocols can rely on the massive economic weight of ETH’s stakers.

These external modules, called Actively Validated Services (AVS), include decentralized sequencers, oracles, bridges, data availability layers, and other middleware.

The benefits are substantial:

• Lower bootstrapping costs for new projects
• Higher yields for stakers through stacked rewards
• Greater security via ETH’s Block confirmer set
• quicker innovation due to modularity 

By ahead 2025, EigenLayer had accumulated more than $12 billion in restaked ETH, making it one of the quickest-growing projects in .

The long-term vision is to transform ETH’s Block confirmer network into a global, programmable security hub. If successful, EigenLayer could redefine how decentralized networks secure themselves and interact with one another.

4. zkSync: Zero-Knowledge Rollups for High-Performance Web3

As Web3 applications become more complex, especially in payments, gaming, and privacy-sensitive finance, developers need quicker settlement, lower fees, and stronger cryptographic guarantees.

delivers this through zero-knowledge rollups, which compress thousands of transactions and generate zk-proofs verified directly on ETH.

The benefits of ZK technology are profound:

• Speed: Sub-second confirmation times
• Lower Costs: Dramatically cheaper than L1
• Privacy: data can be validated without being revealed
• Security: proofs ensure correctness by default 

zkSync Era is notable for its zkEVM compatibility, enabling developers to port Solidity contracts without rewriting code.

The system also supports native account abstraction, allowing user-friendly features like gasless transactions, biometric wallet recovery, and flexible multisig authentication key components for mainstream onboarding.

The introduction of hyperchains gives projects the ability to deploy custom ZK-powered chains tailored to AI applications, high-frequency trading, gaming, and enterprise workloads. With the increased focus on ZK technologies across Web3, zkSync sits at the forefront of scalability and privacy breakthroughs.

5. IPFS: The Decentralized Data Layer of Web3

While blockchains secure transactions, Web3 still requires decentralized systems to store data, assets, metadata, and application front-ends. This is where IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) plays a foundational role.

Instead of relying on centralized servers or cloud platforms, IPFS uses content-addressed storage, where files are referenced by their unique cryptographic hash. This enables:

• Permanent, tamper-resistant data storage
• Censorship resistance through distributed nodes
• Global content delivery without central points of failure
• Interoperability with chains via pinned data

IPFS is widely used for NFT metadata, decentralized websites, and distributed archives. When paired with storage incentives through networks like Filecoin or Arweave, IPFS becomes the backbone of permanent and censorship-resistant Web3 storage.

Platforms like , Farcaster, Lens Protocol, and numerous DAOs rely on IPFS to ensure that assets and front-ends remain accessible even if central servers fail. In a Web3 world that prioritizes transparency and permanence, IPFS is irreplaceable.

How These Projects Reshape the Web3 Landscape

Together, these five tackle the blockchain trilemma by specializing in diverse infrastructure layers:

• ETH: Computation & settlement
• Arbitrum: Scalability & affordability
• EigenLayer: Security & trust minimization
• zkSync: Privacy-preserving high performance
• IPFS: Decentralized storage 

This layered model mirrors the design of the traditional internet, with diverse tools working together rather than one chain doing everything.

Driving Mass Adoption

Several trends amplify the importance of these projects:

• Rising demand for enterprise answers
• Increasing complexity of decentralized applications
• Accelerating AI-Web3 convergence
• Global movement toward self-custody and censorship resistance 

The synergy between L1s, L2s, shared-security layers, and decentralized storage is unlocking trillion-dollar opportunities across finance, gaming, identity, and decentralized social networks.

Ongoing Challenges

Despite progress, Web3 infrastructure faces hurdles:

• Quantum computing threats will require post-quantum cryptography.
• Regulatory uncertainty could shape L2 operations or restaking rules.
• Interoperability remains fragmented across chains.
• Data availability is an ongoing challenge for large-scale dApps. 

Yet the open-source culture of Web3 continues to drive rapid iteration. New appchains, modular blockchains, and data networks continue to emerge, expanding the possibilities for developers and users alike.

The Infrastructure Powerhouses Shaping the Future of Web3

In 2025, Web3 is undergoing a structural transformation. Rather than competing to be “the one chain to rule them all,” leading projects now cooperate through layered architectures.

ETH provides the secure execution foundation; Arbitrum and zkSync scale its throughput; EigenLayer distributes its economic security; and IPFS stores its data.

These five projects collectively enable a more scalable, secure, resilient, and user-friendly Web3. As adoption grows, this infrastructure-first approach will define which networks and applications succeed in the next decade.

FAQs

Why are infrastructure projects so significant for Web3?

Infrastructure determines how scalable, secure, and decentralized applications can be. Without strong underlying layers, dApps face high fees, sluggish transactions, and centralized bottlenecks.

Is ETH still the dominant platform for Web3 development?

Yes. ETH remains the leading smart-contract platform due to its developer tools, security, and massive ecosystem. Most L2s, including Arbitrum and zkSync, rely on it for settlement.

How does EigenLayer’s restaking change network security?

Restaking allows staked ETH to secure additional protocols, creating a shared security model. New projects can launch without building their own Block confirmer network from scratch.

What makes zkSync diverse from other Layer-2 answers?

zkSync uses zero-knowledge proofs for near-instant finality, strong security guarantees, and privacy benefits, making it ideal for high-throughput or regulated applications.

Why is IPFS essential for Web3 apps?

Blockchains cannot store large files. IPFS provides decentralized, content-addressed storage for data, NFTs, frontends, and archives, ensuring permanence and censorship resistance.

References

• : 11 Best Web3 Infrastructure Providers [2025]
• : 10 Ultimate Open-Source Web3 Projects 2025