Beginning with only a handful of pioneers just a few years in the past led by Arbitrum and Optimism, there’s been a speedy multiplication of layer-2 networks atop Ethereum, designed to offer an alternate venue for executing transactions, often 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 subsequent large problem the blockchain house must sort out.
“Proper now the race is to resolve the fragmentation,” Gluchowski stated 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 downside, together with Matter Labs releasing its Elastic Chain in June.
Different layer-2 opponents 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 subsequent might 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 reside constellations in blockchains that truly implement the interoperability,” Gluchowski stated. Gluchowski stated he’s uncertain Optimism’s interoperability plans might be simple to tug off with out upgrading its techniques to include zero-knowledge proofs. “These are advanced applied sciences.”
A part of the rationale why so many chains have popped up over the previous couple of 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 primarily based 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 for example are Coinbase’s “Base” and Worldcoin’s “World Chain.” Layer-1 Cronos has additionally created their very own layer-2 chain primarily based off of ZKsync know-how, known as Cronos zkEVM.
Now, the objective is for all these chains to be extra interconnected, so as a substitute of feeling like customers are transacting throughout many chains, it appears like one singular chain.
Gluchowski says the abundance of layer-2 chains should be reframed and checked out as helpful for particular use-cases. “The actual query is, do we’ve L2s that matter? And I feel that we’ll not want too many normal goal layer-2s, however we do want some utility particular L2s or group particular L2s,” Gluchowski stated.
“This might be regional, like one LatAm, Southeast Asia or Japan, as a result of they’ve particular cultures, they usually type of have a separate strategy there. Or it is actually utility particular, like we’ve initiatives launching on the Elastic Chain which can be simply both it is a gaming chain, which does probably not should be sharing infrastructure block house with DeFi or monetary purposes,” Gluchowski stated.
Learn extra: ZKsync Developer’s New ‘Elastic Chain’ Might Compete With Polygon’s AggLayer
