Ethereum scaling tokens outperformed most of the cryptocurrency market after the weekend crash, signaling stronger price resilience among layer-2 (L2) projects built on the world’s largest smart contract network.
Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Mantle (MNT) saw a 31% rebound on Monday, becoming the third-biggest gainer in the 100 largest cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap.
The Arbitrum (ARB) and Immutable (IMX) tokens also registered double-digit gains, while the Polygon (POL) token had an 8% rebound in the 24 hours up to the time of writing.
Some analysts are pointing to the MNT token’s growing utility within the Bybit exchange ecosystem as the reason behind the rebound after the $19 billion liquidation event.
Top 10 L2 tokens by market capitalization. Source: CoinMarketCap.com
“Mantle has had a lot of momentum recently, particularly with its utility driven by the Bybit integration, variety of products being offered, and it has a sizeable treasury,” said Jake Kennis, senior research analyst at Nansen blockchain intelligence platform.
This dynamic saw the MNT token’s price increase by threefold over the past three months, the analyst told Cointelegraph.
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Mantle’s active addresses soared 117% week over week, marking the “strongest growth among all L2s,” according to blockchain sleuth SatyaXBT.
“Bybit’s expansion and Mantle’s rising on-chain traction are starting to form a solid feedback loop between CEX and L2,” he wrote in a Monday X post.
Source: SatyaXBT
Bybit launched multiple campaigns and staking products for MNT in August, followed by a joint roadmap with Mantle outlining lower slippage trades, new payment options and expanded savings features. The initiative marks the beginning of Mantle 2.0, which aims to establish the network as an institutional “liquidity chain” for tokenized real-world assets and bridge centralized (CeFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi).
“Mantle is no longer just an L2 but the foundation of Bybit's ecosystem. This isn’t a simple partnership but a play for RWA dominance,” according to Delphi Digital in a Sept. 3 X post.
“This update shifts the Mantle token into a Bybit utility asset.”
Bybit may also provide additional liquidity through grants such as the $200 million Mantle EcoFund, designed to invest in applications built within its ecosystem.
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MNT token may benefit from Binance platform disruptions
Some industry observers suggested that Mantle’s rally was also boosted by Binance platform disruptions during last weekend’s market volatility. Binance reported intermittent delays and display issues on Friday due to high trading volume.
While Binance remained online, some “platform modules” experienced “technical glitches,” causing the depegging of three cryptocurrencies on the exchange, including Ethena’s synthetic dollar (EUSDE), Binance Staked Solana (BNSOL) and Wrapped Beacon ETH (WBETH).
Binance distributed $283 million worth of funds to compensate users affected by these platform glitches, according to a Sunday announcement.
“After what happened on Binance, where people couldn’t manage their positions, Bybit was flawless,” according to blockchain sleuth Finish, who added that “Bybit will lead, and $MNT is gonna rip hard.”
Despite rumors of market manipulation, the recent correction was “undoubtedly a real market event, not just an exchange glitch,” Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder of Redstone blockchain oracle solutions firm, told Cointelegraph, adding:
“When President Trump announced 100% tariffs on China around 5:00 PM ET on Friday, October 10th, crypto markets became the sole outlet for global investors to express their shock.”
Due to other global markets being closed during the announcement, “crypto absorbed the full force of panic selling that would typically be distributed across multiple asset classes,” he added.
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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
