I've noticed there are some new Layer 2 (L2) projects being announced, and I'm curious if any of them are currently successfully implementing merge-mining.
Cheers!
Merged mining is not a new idea and was implemented in Namecoin in 2011. You can see its details https://github.com/namecoin/wiki/blob/master/Merged-Mining.mediawiki#Goal_of_this_%20namecoin_change
As for its successful application, F2pool supports ELA merged mining, which allows to mine ELA tokens alongside BTC. You can see the steps here https://f2pool.medium.com/mine-btc-with-f2pool-and-receive-ela-vcash- and-nmc-merged-mining-rewards-52cc196c4333
ViaBTC had similar plans but the latest is two sidechains under development called Coordinate and Alys, one for Ordinals and the other for EVM-compatible with a system called Anduro by Marathon Digital Holdings, here was announced https://ir.mara.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1344/ marathon-digital-holdings-introduces-anduro-a-new
I do not like the idea of merging-mining sidechains because it gives a false sense of security, especially since the new project's direction is to use the name Bitcoin to give users a sense of security and that the new network is safe from 51% attacks.