Aztec tops Santiment’s GitHub activity rankings for Layer 2s

Aztec Network now sits at the top of Santiment’s GitHub activity rankings for Layer 2 projects, leapfrogging Starknet, which had held the lead position. The rankings, tracking developer engagement across Ethereum scaling solutions, place Starknet in second and Optimism in third.

For a project with a market cap hovering around $61 million, that is a remarkable showing.

The numbers behind the shift

To appreciate the magnitude of Aztec’s climb, consider where things stood just a couple of months ago. In March 2026, Starknet posted a GitHub activity score of 213.97, while Aztec trailed at 191.83. That gap has now closed and reversed entirely.

Santiment’s methodology tracks notable GitHub events across project repositories, deliberately excluding certain commit types to filter out noise.

What makes Aztec different

Aztec is not your typical rollup. Built as a privacy-first zkRollup on Ethereum, it is designed to enable confidential smart contracts and transactions using zero-knowledge proofs.

The project has developed its own programming language called Noir, purpose-built for writing privacy-preserving applications.

Aztec Labs, the team behind the network, secured a $17 million Series A investment led by Paradigm.

Why GitHub activity matters, and why it doesn’t

The market’s reaction to these rankings underscores exactly that tension. There was no meaningful price movement following the release. Traders, it seems, are taking a wait-and-see approach rather than treating developer metrics as an immediate buy signal.

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