As Ethereum gas fees have continued to yo-yo and legacy L1s have progressively gotten strained under their own weight, L2 solutions have stepped in to offer something smoother, cheaper, and more usable (all without sacrificing blockchain’s core ethos of decentralization). This is the turf where Etherlink has been quietly, and not-so-quietly, making its mark.
Built on Tezos’ infrastructure but capable of speaking fluent Ethereum, Etherlink has carved out a niche for itself that feels both familiar and fresh, attracting builders exploring DeFi and real-world asset (RWA) projects.
Most recently, the project teamed up with Google Cloud to grant qualifying projects up to $200,000 in ‘Cloud credits’ and expert support, allowing teams to experiment and build without worrying about infrastructure costs eating into their runway.
Etherlink 🤝 Google Cloud
Builders on Etherlink who’ve received a grant from the @TezosFoundation are now eligible for the @googlecloud Web3 Startup Program, unlocking $200,000 in cloud credits along with engineering support and go-to-market opportunities. ☁️
Now open to… pic.twitter.com/2xk9XFq2yv
— Etherlink 🔗 (@etherlink) October 21, 2025
The program seems to have come on the heels of serious ecosystem growth, with Etherlink’s total value locked (TVL) having jumped to over $81 million over the past three business quarters, something that has been largely attributed to projects like Lombard Finance and Midas launching on the platform.
Moreover, by ensuring developers have seamless access to scalable backend services, analytics, and marketing support, the Etherlink x Google Cloud partnership stands to fuel even more such growth in the near term.
Institutional-grade DeFi products are now available on Etherlink
From the outside looking in, Etherlink’s improved tooling and operational capacity have enabled the launch of sophisticated financial products, something that was put on display recently when tokenization firm Midas announced two new yield-focused investment products on the platform, namely mRe7YIELD (a diversified DeFi yield strategy token) and mMEX (an arbitrage strategy token).
In practice, the mRe7YIELD token lets holders gain exposure to a mix of DeFi yield strategies in one self-custodied asset while mMEV targets protocol arbitrage and neutral strategies. Both tokens are managed on-chain (with Re7 Capital overseeing mRe7YIELD, MEV Capital overseeing mMEV) and operate without traditional intermediaries.
🔦 DeFi spotlight:
mRe7YIELD is now live on Etherlink, powered by @midasRWA and @re7labs.
Designed by Re7 Labs this delta-neutral DeFi strategy recently achieved a 32% APY → with instant minting live on Etherlink. pic.twitter.com/MEomfyeVaM
— Etherlink 🔗 (@etherlink) October 24, 2025
Beyond tokenized yield tokens, Etherlink also made big moves in DeFi lending as non-custodial DeFi interface Oku integrated the Morpho protocol on Etherlink. In brief, Morpho is a peer-to-peer lending engine, and on Etherlink it allows users to lend and borrow assets at algorithmic rates while keeping custody of their funds.
The Morpho integration also kicked off Etherlink’s first curated vault run by MEV Capital, allowing users to lend USDC against a basket of yield-bearing tokens (including mMEV, mBASIS, mTBILL from Midas) with institutional-grade risk management.
Ecosystem upgrades galore and much more
While having made an indelible mark on the DeFi realm, Etherlink has also seemingly become a hub for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). A prime example of this has been Uranium.io, the first on-chain marketplace for trading physical uranium built on Etherlink’s infrastructure.
The platform’s EVM compatibility made it a natural choice for UW3O8 (a uranium token) which was recently listed on Hanji (the on-chain orderbook DEX for Etherlink), making it simpler to invest in a market that was previously quite exclusive and available only to the financial elite.
Tokenized uranium trading just levelled up!
It is now also available on @HanjiProtocol, a high-performance on-chain orderbook exchange.
Alongside existing venues, this expansion brings uranium trading fully on-chain, enabling composability and deeper integration with DeFi 🤝 pic.twitter.com/26WT8uThuC
— XU3O8 (@uranium_io) October 17, 2025
Lastly, the network just rolled out a new governance interface (version 2), giving stakers a much smoother way to propose and vote on chain upgrades. Not only that, mid-2025 also saw Etherlink integrate Bitcoin through Lombard Finance’s LBTC token, bringing substantial liquidity into the Tezos L2 ecosystem. Not only that, Banxa also added a fiat on-ramp widget to Etherlink, so people can buy XTZ, USDT, or USDC directly.
What lies ahead?
All told, the aforementioned updates clearly show that Etherlink has been steadily building out a full-stack ecosystem, one that offers cloud support, a plethora of financial primitives, a broad asset base (Bitcoin, commodities, stablecoins), and future ready infrastructure. And with Tezos itself is nearing another major upgrade (part of its Tezos X vision), it looks as though the Etherlink team is capitalizing on both the ongoing DeFi momentum and the emerging tokenization trend.
For now, Etherlink’s rapid series of partnerships and deployments illustrate a platform finding its footing as a Tezos-centric bridge to the broader crypto economy. Interesting time ahead, to say the least!
