- Mantle surged 15% to reach a record high of $1.77.
- Total value locked exceeded $2 billion, making Mantle the largest ZK rollup by TVL.
- Mantle’s transaction volumes also rose sharply, with hundreds of thousands of daily transactions.
Mantle Network’s native token, MNT, climbed to an all-time high of $1.77 on September 17, 2025, following the successful rollout of its mainnet upgrade to a zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup architecture. The upgrade marks a major milestone for Ethereum Layer 2 scaling and helped fuel strong market interest in the token.
The rally in MNT coincided with gains across other digital assets, reflecting broader market momentum.
Mantle completes ZK rollup upgrade
Mantle’s move from an optimistic rollup to a full ZK rollup represents a significant evolution of its infrastructure. The upgrade enables the network to produce succinct validity proofs for state transitions without revealing underlying transaction data. This approach strengthens security and reduces dependence on fraud-proof challenge windows that can delay finality under optimistic designs.
By eliminating the assumption-based model of optimistic rollups—where transactions are presumed valid until challenged—Mantle’s ZK architecture improves confirmation speed and overall reliability.
“With today’s mainnet upgrade, the journey is complete: Mantle is now the world’s largest ZK rollup by TVL, with over $2 billion secured by Succinct’s technology,” said Edward Li, growth and business development lead at Succinct.
Prior to the upgrade, Mantle’s total value locked (TVL) measured roughly $218 million. After the transition, TVL expanded to over $2 billion, propelling Mantle to the top position among ZK rollups by this metric.
Mantle’s architecture also integrates services from EigenLayer to improve decentralization while avoiding undue load on the base chain. This hybrid approach has earned praise from developers seeking EVM-compatible Layer 2 environments with stronger security guarantees.
Mantle price outlook and token performance
The upgrade announcement triggered an immediate price reaction, with MNT jumping more than 15% and surpassing the previous high of $1.68 set earlier. Trading data from major exchanges showed MNT’s market capitalization climbing above $5.4 billion, putting it among the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market value at that time.
Market observers attribute the surge to several factors: heightened institutional interest in zero-knowledge technologies, the broader Ethereum ecosystem developments such as the Dencun upgrade, and Mantle-specific incentives. The ecosystem’s upcoming offerings—yield-bearing stablecoins like mETH and prospective crypto index funds—also helped bolster sentiment.
At the time of reporting, the MNT price traded around $1.64, slightly below the record high. Short-term selling pressure contributed to the pullback, but technical observers point to a potential continuation pattern: a bull flag that could precede another leg higher as Mantle’s ZK framework enables cross-rollup interoperability.
Mantle already hosts more than 5.86 million active accounts, and some forecasts suggest TVL could double by year-end if partnerships with EigenLayer and Succinct drive further capital inflows and developer activity.
Nevertheless, challenges remain. Competition from established ZK solutions—such as Polygon zkEVM—and regulatory scrutiny around restaking or incentive mechanisms could limit upside. Traders and investors are watching key price levels near $1.40 and $1.09 as potential support points in the event of deeper consolidation.