Selling blockspace is no longer a strong standalone business for blockchain networks, according to a new analysis from Castle Labs Research translated by TechFlow and published by MarsBit. As infrastructure gets cheaper and more interchangeable, the gap between application fees and chain-level fees keeps widening, leaving many networks with growing usage but weaker direct revenue capture. The report groups recent responses into two tracks. One is ecosystem expansion, where chains such as Arbitrum and Polygon try to earn more through infrastructure distribution, payments, and revenue-sharing arrangements. The other is product expansion, where networks such as MegaETH and Sophon move closer to the application layer and try to internalize value that would otherwise accrue to third-party builders. The piece highlights Arbitrum Stack’s revenue share from Robinhood’s L2, Timeboost’s treasury contribution, Polygon’s role in stablecoin payments, MegaETH’s first-party app strategy and USDm stablecoin model, and Sophon’s shift away from operating its own chain. The broader argument is that chains are no longer content to remain neutral infrastructure providers. More of them are trying to become ecosystem operators, application owners, or both, as they search for revenue models that can better support token value and long-term sustainability.

MegaETH has launched its mainnet with multiple early deployments already live. MEGA premarket trading opened on January 30 and is now near $0.135, while TGE and listing are expected between February and March 2026.

MegaETH said its first launch KPI has been met after 10 apps went live with real user activity, putting the MEGA token generation event on April 30, 2026. The market is now watching listing details, valuation, and post-launch usage data.

MegaETH has opened claims for its Terminal airdrop. Eligible users must choose a reward wallet and register an email before June 10, 2026, or their profile settings will be locked.

MegaETH has launched its MEGA token after a seven-day countdown, with Binance, KuCoin, and Bitget opening spot trading once the project’s first ecosystem KPI was met.

From January 28 to February 5, 2026, seven high-profile crypto projects will hold Token Generation Events (TGEs) across NFTs, DeFi, Layer-2, privacy, wallets, and open-source infrastructure, with total funding near $350M. Market sentiment remains cautious but institutional money is active.

On-chain analytics platform Bubblemaps said in a post on X that investors who joined the MEGA token presale and chose to lock their tokens for extra rewards are currently sitting on an unrealized loss of about 50%. According to the data cited by Bubblemaps, this group of investors put in a combined $28.3 million. The current value of those holdings has fallen to $13.6 million. The tokens tied to that lockup will not become available until April 2027. The update points specifically to presale participants who selected the lockup option tied to additional rewards, rather than the broader MEGA holder base. Bubblemaps did not add further details in the excerpt carried by ChainCatcher beyond the loss estimate, total capital committed, current holding value, and the stated unlock date.

MegaETH completed its TGE on April 30, with MEGA going live across major exchanges. The Ethereum Layer 2 project targets 100,000 TPS and sub-10 millisecond block times.