Ethereum layer 2 breakthrough: what it means
Editor's Note: This article comes fromBlue Fox Notes (ID: lanhubiji), reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Editor's Note: This article comes fromBlue Fox Notes (ID: lanhubiji)》）
Blue Fox Notes (ID: lanhubiji), reprinted by Odaily with authorization.》）。
V God's evaluation of the current Ethereum Layer 2 expansion strategy is that the initial deployment is "basically" successful, and the rest is a matter of refinement and deployment. In other words, he believes that the success of Layer 2 is basically a deterministic matter, rather than the previous exploration problem. (And just last year, the exploration of Layer 2 was still facing great uncertainty, and even the failure of Plasma, you can refer to the "
Why is it said that Ethereum Layer 2 is close to success? Since entering 2020, Ethereum Layer 2 has made substantial breakthroughs. The most representative ones are the progress of Optimistic rollup and ZK rollup, including Synthetix using the Optimistic rollup solution to build its exchange; Loopring using Zk rollup to build a decentralized exchange; Fuel Labs also launched based on the Optimistic rollup solution Reddit Cash can provide scalability for Reddit token transfers (for Reddit tokens, you can refer to the previous article "Understanding ZK Rollup and Optimistic Rollup in one article: an important expansion direction of Ethereum》。
StarkEx also recently conducted a simulation experiment, using its ZK rollup technology to introduce Ethereum mainnet accounts (including initial balances) to more than 1.3 million users on the Reddit subversion r/FortNiteBR. The amortized price of each transfer is only 600 gas. During the move-in process, it did not take up too many network resources, and only used 2.5% of the network for 12 hours. If StarkEX is not used, the whole process will take 4.5 days. StarkEX says they can be used not only to introduce Ethereum accounts to Reddit, but also to provide scalability for its transactions.
The advantage of using Rollup technology is that it can speed up the transfer speed while reducing costs and achieving a good user experience. Regarding Optimistic rollup and Zk rollup, they are not without disadvantages. For example, Optimistic rollup faces too long token extraction time and possible attack risks. You can refer to the previous article "
Understanding ZK Rollup and Optimistic Rollup in one article: an important expansion direction of Ethereum
In addition to the most exciting Rollup series, other Layer 2s have also been launched and made progress. For example, Tether has integrated the OMG network, and the Matic network has also been launched. In addition, there may be new solutions on the way.
secondary title
What does the breakthrough of Ethereum Layer 2 mean?
The basic success of Ethereum Layer 2 means that the Ethereum ecosystem has entered an era of scalability. Recently, the cost of Ethereum is very high, and many high-frequency trading users consume more Ethereum gas than the real gas every day. Many crypto users still have fresh memories of the 2017 CryptoKitties that made Ethereum extremely congested.
Without sharding and PoS, the current Ethereum basically cannot carry an ecology. With the launch of various DeFi, games and other applications and protocols, even the development of stable coins is enough to overwhelm Ethereum. Ethereum cannot support their fluency and low fees, which will definitely affect the subsequent development of these projects .
Now the development of Layer 2 can alleviate this situation. Not all transactions need to be completed on the Ethereum mainnet. Different projects can achieve a better experience on Layer 2. Of course this is also a balance. Ethereum is gradually looking for a balance between decentralization, security, and performance. It builds a balanced ecosystem, rather than a one-size-fits-all combination of decentralization, security, and performance.
The basic success of Layer 2 means that Ethereum can carry a larger ecology. The bottom layer of Ethereum will focus more on safe and high-value transactions, and projects based on Ethereum no longer need to worry about excessive fees and slow speed. This means that DeFi will be more likely to enter the mainstream. At the same time, today's layer 2 can also achieve no custody, which can also guarantee the security of user assets to a certain extent.
