Dive into Blockchain Layers: L1 and L2
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L2 solutions were created to solve network throughput problems. However, questions about their design and future development require more attention, especially after the Ethereum merger.
Blockchain networks that process on-chain transactions, such as Ethereum, are considered Layer 1 (L1) chains. However, the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies in recent years, coupled with the launch of a large number of new projects running on the L1 chain, has put pressure on the L1 chain. Since their original architecture was not designed to manage large transaction volumes, chains faced bottlenecks, which resulted in higher transaction fees and lower processing speeds.
The above situation has led to the emergence of Layer 2 (L2) chains, which aim to reduce the underlying network requirements by only submitting transactions to L1, while processing transactions off-chain.
We are provided with security and consensus mechanisms (the way network nodes agree on the state of data) on L1. At the same time, the recording of transaction data occurs on the second layer, which is L2.
L2
One of the main issues facing L1 is scalability, which has been a hot topic. This problem should be solved with the help of L2. Scalability itself refers to scaling limits and load capacity, defined in blockchain throughput, or specifically, how many transactions can be performed per second.
Due to the use of L1/L2 combined infrastructure, L2 improves the throughput of L1 very well. Despite mergers and other upcoming upgrades, Ethereum will also continue to rely on L2 solutions that will likely evolve and exponentially increase throughput.
In terms of security, L2 provides the same security guarantees as L1 because transactions are settled on the L1 chain.
As scalability and security are critical to apps, dapps and NFTs, they are increasingly running on Ethereum L2 solutions. Not only gaming or encryption companies like Balancer, but also big companies like Starbucks have tended to launch new projects and deploy them on L2.
For regular users, L2 solutions also pay less for transactions because they are executed off the main expensive blockchain. Before the merger, the huge difference in transaction costs between Ethereum and its L2 solutions was often the reason why users switched to the latter. After the upgrade, transaction costs on the main chain may temporarily drop. But the increased environmental friendliness, security, and other advantages of PoS consensus may attract more users to Ethereum in the future. The more mass adoption, the higher the load and transaction price. However, users always want options, and the L2 does offer a great one.
Optimistic Rollup 和 ZK-Rollup
The most promising L2 technique is rollup. They reduce L1 congestion by executing transactions outside of L1 and "rolling" them into large batches before committing to Ethereum - hence the name "roll".
The two main Rollup types are Optimistic Rollup and ZK-Rollup.
Optimistic Rollup uses methods to prevent fraud when sending transactions to L1. After the data is released on the chain, there is time to challenge the results of the Rollup transaction through calculations. This method results in long withdrawal times because it takes a while to send all the proofs before the transaction is finalized. This inconvenience is often compensated by low transaction fees.
ZK-Rollup uses cryptographic proof-of-validity, which is a guarantee provided by the rollup after transactions have been executed and state changes proposed. After being verified by validators, all compressed data is also published to the main blockchain.
In the longer term, L2 solutions are expected to be increasingly based on cryptographic proofs used by ZK-Rollups, as the technology, although not yet perfect, provides faster withdrawals than Optimistic Rollups.
State Channels and Plasma
The state channel is used as a payment channel and will be connected to the main chain to store cryptocurrency. Transactions are executed off-chain, while data is recorded on L1. Examples of state channels include Bitcoin-based Lightning Network and the Raiden Network that interacts with Ethereum.
Plasma is a framework that allows building sub-blockchains connected to L1 in terms of security and data storage. They use fraud proofs, similar to Optimistic Rollups, and sometimes have longer withdrawal times.
side chain
Sidechains use their own consensus mechanism. They operate independently and are connected to the main network through bridges. Another key difference is that their security does not come from the parent chain, but is independent.
The most famous sidechain is Polygon, which aims to be a ZK-Rollup. Over the past year, Polygon has gotten a few ZK-Rollup projects.
L2 was created to help L1 and has now evolved alongside their parent blockchain. If the speed and throughput of the mainnet improves, its "layer 2" will eventually improve as well. They can serve as relevant backups all the way to Ethereum 3.0 and beyond.
When experimenting with L2 solutions, be aware that Ethereum-based L2s, such as Optimism and Arbitrum, typically use ETH as gas, whereas to interact with Polygon we will need its native token, MATIC.
Source：https://blog.1inch.io/diving-into-blockchain-layers-l1-and-l2-97240ebd1ca0
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