A layer 2 NFT is an NFT minted on a rollup that batches transactions and posts the data to Ethereum, so minting and trading cost a fraction of a cent. This guide compares the main rollup types, explains what happened to Immutable X, shows how NFTs move between Ethereum and a layer 2, and lists the risks to check before choosing a rollup.
Why NFT projects use layer 2
During the 2021 boom, popular mints on Ethereum mainnet caused gas wars, and buyers often paid more in fees than the NFT cost, and failed transactions still charged gas. Game items and editions priced at a few dollars could not work on mainnet at those fees.
Rollups lowered the cost, and three Ethereum upgrades lowered it further:
- Dencun, March 2024. EIP-4844 added blobs, a cheap data space for rollups.
- Pectra, May 2025. Pectra raised the blob target to 6 per block, with a maximum of 9.
- Fusaka, December 2025. Fusaka added PeerDAS, which lets nodes check blob data without downloading all of it, and allows small forks that only raise the blob count. The ethereum.org Fusaka page describes both changes.
Fees on the large rollups are now a small fraction of a cent in normal conditions. Many new NFT projects now launch on a layer 2, and Ethereum mainnet keeps high-value art and older collections.
Layer 2 NFT options: optimistic and ZK rollups
| Optimistic rollups | ZK rollups | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Base, OP Mainnet, Arbitrum One | ZKsync Era, Starknet, Linea, Scroll |
| How the rollup proves correct state | Batches count as valid unless someone challenges them with a fraud proof | A validity proof for each batch is checked on Ethereum |
| Withdrawal to Ethereum | About seven days through the canonical bridge | After the proof is verified, often within hours |
| EVM compatibility | Close to identical to Ethereum | Varies. Linea and Scroll aim for close equivalence. Starknet uses its own language, Cairo. |
| NFT activity | Large, especially Base for consumer mints | Smaller |
A team that writes Solidity and wants marketplaces to index its collection at once usually picks an EVM-equivalent optimistic rollup. ZK rollups give faster withdrawals to Ethereum, and ZKsync Era also has native account abstraction, and its contracts have been compiled with ZKsync's own compiler. The guide to ZKsync NFT integration covers that chain in detail.
Immutable X: from StarkEx rollup to Immutable Chain
Immutable X was an early NFT-specific layer 2. Immutable built it with StarkWare on StarkEx, and games could mint and trade NFTs on it without gas fees. Immutable then launched Immutable zkEVM, a general EVM chain for games, now called Immutable Chain.
According to the Immutable X deprecation page, Immutable X was merged into Immutable Chain in early 2026. The Immutable X sequencer no longer accepts new transactions, and the Immutable X marketplace has been removed. ETH, IMX and other ERC-20 tokens moved to Immutable Chain in the same wallets. Most NFTs moved automatically, but some games wrote their own migration logic.
Immutable Chain is built from a fork of geth. The Immutable Chain documentation lists block times and finality of about 2 seconds, and gas sponsorship so that players pay no fees. The chain differs from Ethereum in a few ways: it rejects blob transactions, and the PREVRANDAO opcode always returns zero, so games need an oracle for randomness.
A project on an application-specific chain can be forced to migrate when that chain changes its plans. Standard ERC-721 and ERC-1155 contracts and portable metadata make such a move easier.
Arbitrum Nova is another chain aimed at games and social apps. Nova does not post all transaction data to Ethereum; a data availability committee stores the data instead, so fees are lower and users must trust the committee.
Bridging NFTs between Ethereum and a layer 2
Canonical rollup bridges are built mainly for ETH and ERC-20 tokens. An NFT needs the rollup's own NFT bridge, where one exists, or a custom pair of contracts:
- An Ethereum contract locks the NFT and sends a message to the layer 2.
- A layer 2 contract receives the message and mints a mirrored NFT.
A withdrawal runs the same steps in reverse and waits for the rollup's withdrawal delay. Most projects avoid bridging; they mint on one layer 2 and treat that chain as the collection's home. A project that must support several chains can use a cross-chain messaging protocol to keep one token per chain in sync, though each messaging protocol adds its own trust assumptions. The guide to cross-chain NFT marketplaces covers those designs.
How to build a layer 2 NFT project
- Choose the rollup by its audience, its marketplace coverage and its tools. Fees are low on all the large rollups, so fees rarely decide the choice.
- Check the rollup's decentralization stage: whether fraud or validity proofs are live and who can upgrade the bridge. L2BEAT publishes these assessments for each rollup.
- Deploy standard contracts such as ERC-721A or ERC-1155 with EIP-2981 royalties. On chains that are not fully EVM-equivalent, check opcode and precompile differences first.
- Sponsor gas with an ERC-4337 paymaster, so users can mint without holding ETH on the layer 2.
- Add an on-ramp or a bridge widget for buyers whose funds sit on Ethereum mainnet or on an exchange.
- Use an NFT API that indexes the rollup, or run an indexer against its RPC.
Risks of layer 2 chains
- Single sequencer. Most rollups run one sequencer. If the sequencer goes down, the chain pauses, and if it censors a user, the user must use a slower forced-inclusion path on Ethereum.
- Upgrade keys. Rollup contracts can be upgraded, and a security council or a multisig can change the rules, so each project should know who holds those keys.
- Split liquidity. Collectors and their funds are spread over many layer 2 chains, so a collection on a small layer 2 can have few buyers.
- Chain shutdowns. Several layer 2 chains have closed. Polygon shut down Polygon zkEVM on July 1, 2026, and Immutable X stopped taking transactions in 2026.
The blog post on scaling a blockchain app with layer 2 gives a broader overview. The guide to NFTs on sidechains compares rollups with chains like Polygon PoS, and the guide to Ethereum NFT marketplaces covers building on mainnet.
Frequently asked questions
Which layer 2 is best for NFTs?
No layer 2 is best for every project. Base has a large consumer audience, Arbitrum has a broad DeFi and gaming ecosystem, and Immutable Chain targets games. The deciding factor is where a project's users and preferred marketplaces already are.
Is Immutable X still running?
No. Immutable X merged into Immutable Chain in early 2026, its sequencer no longer processes transactions, and most of its NFTs moved to Immutable Chain.
Are layer 2 NFTs as secure as Ethereum NFTs?
Layer 2 NFTs inherit much of Ethereum's security, but they also depend on the rollup's proof system, its upgrade keys and its sequencer. Rollups with live proofs and limited upgrade powers come closest to Ethereum's guarantees.
Can an Ethereum NFT collection move to a layer 2?
Yes. The project can bridge the tokens if a bridge exists, or take a snapshot of holders and airdrop a new collection on the layer 2. In both cases, the project must state clearly which version is the official one.