Following in the footsteps of Coinbase and Kraken, crypto exchange Gate is launching a new Layer 2 network, Gate Layer, built using the OP Stack. The exchange is also rolling out upgrades for its native GateToken (GT).
"The move aims to deliver a faster, lower-cost experience for Web3 users while marking a new milestone in Gate's infrastructure and ecosystem development," Gate wrote in a statement on Thursday.
Gate said its bespoke network, Gate Layer, will become the backbone of its “All in Web3” strategy, serving as a platform to launch a perpetuals trading hub and a “no-code incubator” for token launches.
"The launch of Gate Layer completes our shift from a pure centralized exchange to a full on-chain Web3 ecosystem," Dr. Han Lin, CEO of Gate, told The Block in an email. "With GT and GateChain as the foundation, we’re aligning infrastructure, liquidity, and tokenomics under one roof — creating a sustainable network where innovation and adoption scale together."
While far from the first to roll out a native chain, the success of Base, an Ethereum scaling layer launched by Coinbase in 2023, has shown that proprietary blockchains can be revenue-generating enterprises and platforms to capture new users, leading to a renewed period of experimentation.
Centralized exchange Kraken and the Uniswap DEX have also tapped Optimism’s tech stack to support their networks. The interoperable Superchain ecosystem fosters both collaboration and competition among participating chains.
Gate Layer specs
The team says Gate Layer supports over 5,700 transactions per second, one-second block times, and "significantly lower" fees compared to other L2s. It will also offer cross-chain transfers to the Ethereum mainnet as well as other L2s via LayerZero.
This is not Gate's first attempt at launching a chain. In 2019, the same year Binance began building with what is now called BNB Chain, Gate raised $64 million via an initial exchange offering to launch a blockchain, GateChain.
Gate Layer will use GateChain as its settlement layer and incorporate a GT token staking mechanism, according to the announcement. Gate is also doubling down on the gas token GT's "dual deflationary model" using scheduled buybacks. The company says over 60% of the GT supply has been burned to date.
GT is trading hands at $15.93, down about 3.4% on the day at press time, according to The Block’s Price Page. The token has a market cap of $1.9 billion and a circulating supply of 119.4 million. Its all-time high was $25.94 set at the beginning of this year.
Gate, founded in 2013, has historically been one of the smaller centralized crypto exchanges; however, it currently ranks 5th by daily trading volume, according to CoinGecko data. The exchange has generated about $96 billion in exchange volume so far in September, according to The Block's data.
Earlier this year, the exchange’s futures desk suffered some downtime following an emergency system upgrade amid a spike in user activity. The company said it would fully compensate affected users, The Block previously reported.
