Beginning with only a handful of pioneers just a few years in the past led by Arbitrum and Optimism, there’s been a fast multiplication of layer-2 networks atop Ethereum, designed to supply an alternate venue for executing transactions, normally cheaper and quicker. The monitoring web site L2Beat now lists 73 energetic layer-2 initiatives, 20 layer-3 initiatives, 81 upcoming initiatives and 12 already archived.
That is the backdrop for why Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs, the primary developer agency behind the ZKsync layer-2 protocol, sees fragmentation as the following massive problem the blockchain house must deal with.
“Proper now the race is to resolve the fragmentation,” Gluchowski mentioned Wednesday in an interview with CoinDesk in New York.
Superchain, Elastic Chain
Many of those layer-2 chains have points speaking with one another. Interoperability options have been developed in hopes of fixing this drawback, together with Matter Labs releasing its Elastic Chain in June.
Different layer-2 rivals like Polygon and Optimism have come out with their very own variations of fixing this, together with Polygon’s AggLayer and Optimism’s Interoperability resolution. They hope to resolve fragmentation by having totally different chains of their ecosystem plug into their very own interoperability layers.
However simply because the race between layer-2s utilizing zero-knowledge proofs heated up, the following can be between initiatives providing their interoperability options.
“Extra particularly, Optimism’s Superchain and Matter Labs’ Elastic Chain, as a result of these are the one two stay constellations in blockchains that truly implement the interoperability,” Gluchowski mentioned. Gluchowski mentioned he’s uncertain Optimism’s interoperability plans can be straightforward to drag off with out upgrading its programs to include zero-knowledge proofs. “These are complicated applied sciences.”
A part of the rationale why so many chains have popped up over the previous few years is as a result of these corporations have made it really easy for builders to clone their know-how and construct their very own networks based mostly on their tech.
Developer stacks like OP Stack and Matter Labs ZK stack let customers construct their very own customizable layer-2 blockchains utilizing Optimism and Matter Labs’ know-how.
Some high-profile chains which have come out OP Stack as an example are Coinbase’s “Base” and Worldcoin’s “World Chain.” Layer-1 Cronos has additionally created their very own layer-2 chain based mostly off of ZKsync know-how, known as Cronos zkEVM.
Now, the objective is for all these chains to be extra interconnected, so as an alternative of feeling like customers are transacting throughout many chains, it seems like one singular chain.
Gluchowski says the abundance of layer-2 chains have to be reframed and checked out as helpful for particular use-cases. “The true query is, do now we have L2s that matter? And I believe that we are going to not want too many basic objective layer-2s, however we do want some software particular L2s or neighborhood particular L2s,” Gluchowski mentioned.
“This may very well be regional, like one LatAm, Southeast Asia or Japan, as a result of they’ve particular cultures, they usually form of have a separate strategy there. Or it is actually software particular, like now we have initiatives launching on the Elastic Chain which are simply both it is a gaming chain, which does probably not have to be sharing infrastructure block house with DeFi or monetary purposes,” Gluchowski mentioned.
Learn extra: ZKsync Developer’s New ‘Elastic Chain’ May Compete With Polygon’s AggLayer
