ethereum‘s Layer 2 ecosystem continues to expand and diversify, according to ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in a recent blog post. As new scaling solutions emerge, Buterin predicts increasing heterogeneity in Layer 2 designs based on specific security and cost trade-offs.
Rollups, validiums, sidechains, and other layer 2 constructs offer different balances between decentralization, security, and scalability. Financial apps require the highest security guarantees, while social networks and games can accept some downtime in exchange for lower fees.
Buterin notes that projects moving from standalone Layer 1 to ethereum Layer 2 will likely take a gradual, multi-stage approach. Moving all activity to a summary at once would hurt usability, but waiting too long risks missing the opportunity. Centralized projects and niche Layer 1s also need enough decentralization to gain greater security guarantees without sacrificing high performance.
How the different layers 2 interact with ethereum
Validiums rely on zero-knowledge proofs to ensure correct calculation without storing all data directly on ethereum. This saves costs compared to rollups, but validiums face data availability risks if operators fail to make data available. Rollups ensure that users can always withdraw funds to the ethereum mainnet.
Disconnected systems such as sidechains offer even lower costs but require trust in a small set of validators. Hybrid approaches are also emerging, such as validiums that allow users to pay for periodic availability of ethereum data.
Buterin emphasizes the importance of external chains maintaining close ties to ethereum. This reduces security risks by bundling native ethereum assets and enables cross-chain shared account abstractions.
Validation bridges can provide security at the validation level, proving that state transitions are correct. However, handling edge cases like the 51% attacks requires social commitment to coordinate updates. Reading ethereum data and rolling it back when ethereum rolls back is also critical. Chains that only read completed ethereum blocks avoid some complexity but give up functionality during periods of low finality.
Overall, Buterin sees advantages in a spectrum of Layer 2 designs. Applications will continue to tailor solutions to their specific security, scalability, and decentralization needs. However, maintaining connections to ethereum provides benefits regardless of the architecture. He believes that as technology advances, projects can strengthen their ties to ethereum in stages over time.