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Abstract, Berachain, MegaETH, and Monad—these are the "Big Four" of highly anticipated chain launches in 2025.
All of them have major potential when it comes to DeFi and NFTs. And we're now at the halfway mark of these arrivals. 
Abstract launched last month, and 
Berachain goes live tomorrow, Feb. 6th.
What is Berachain?
Berachain is a new Layer 1 blockchain. It's entirely equivalent to the 
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and it uses a novel Proof-of-Liquidty (PoL) consensus mechanism.
Through this PoL approach, Berachain lets users secure the network and earn validator rewards by staking any valuable asset, including DeFi staples like lending deposits, liquidity positions, and stablecoins.
Also, at the center of the network is its tri-token model—BERA for gas, BGT for governance, and HONEY as a stablecoin.
The overall design is meant to foster a self-reinforcing cycle, where more liquidity attracts better yields, in turn drawing additional users and capital.
The Berachain NFT scene
Berachain's architecture has key DeFi elements, but it's also worth noting how NFTs have proven integral to the chain's journey so far:
- The network's founding team came together after their work on the Bong Bears NFT collection in 2021
- The creators pioneered an NFT rebasing mechanism, which they used to grow the Bera ecosystem and lay the foundation for the L1's community today
- Berachain already boasts a teeming NFT scene, with existing community collections on Ethereum and
Arbitrum using snapshots to migrate over once the mainnet is live - Berachain is airdropping 6.9% of its BERA supply—or 34.5 million tokens—to its Bong Bears and rebase NFT holders to reward the network's earliest supporters
Wow, 6.9% of the total $BERA supply is airdropped to Bears NFT holders.
— wale.moca 🐳 (@waleswoosh) February 5, 2025
Most of the allocation will unlock at TGE, the rest will vest over 3 years with the NFTs (if you sell the NFT, you also sell the remaining tokens).
At $5B USD FDV for Berachain, that’s a $345M USD airdrop… pic.twitter.com/aq8X21HHAu
All that said, NFTs have been an important onboarding funnel for Berachain so far, and this dynamic seems poised to continue considering the momentum we've seen here pre-mainnet.
Getting started with Berachain NFTs
Once the mainnet is deployed, you'll be able to bridge funds in and start trying your first Berachain apps.
LayerZero is offering day one bridging support, and you can search for other available options on the Berachain Ecosystem website.
After you've got your wallet set up, I'll recommend what I recommended to Abstract explorers—one of the easiest ways to get started here is by collecting an NFT on popular multichain NFT marketplace, Magic Eden.
In Magic Eden's Berachain hub, you'll be able to browse existing collections, find new projects, and sign up for allowlists for upcoming NFT mints.
Beyond Magic Eden, though, there are various notable culture projects that are either launching on Berachain or planning to offer Berachain support. Some of the projects you can consider exploring include:
- 🐻 Bullas — NFT collection
- 🏅 JokeRace — onchain contests
- 🎲 Junky Ursas — gaming hub
- ✨ Mibera Maker — NFT collection
- 🪪 Phi — onchain identity
- 🧸 Steady Teddys — NFT collection
- 🔄 Sudoswap — NFT trading
- 🍯 The Honey Jar – community venture studio
Ultimately, Berachain's success in the L1 landscape will hinge on it continuing to press its DeFi advantages while fostering the cultural stickiness of its NFT and meme scenes.
So far, the Berachain team have proven adept at navigating this crossroads where technical merit and memeability are increasingly intertwined, so look for them to double down on this strat for 2025 and beyond.
In the meantime, keep an eye out for new NFT collections launching on Berachain, as at least a few of them could be runners in the weeks to come.
