Because the blockchain ecosystem grows, so does the demand for versatile, customizable tech.
Scalability is about making expertise extra accessible to Web3 builders and customers. If builders can construct scalable purposes, they’ll attain extra customers with out rising their prices considerably or needing to multiply their sources. For these wishing to bootstrap a sequence with restricted sources, layer-3s might function a promising alternative.
By chopping down on overhead operational and onboarding prices, layer-3s are shortly turning into an necessary piece of the blockchain ecosystem to present builders larger flexibility and progress alternatives.
When layer-3s began trending, they have been met with preliminary skepticism. Constructing on prime of a layer-2 might add complexity and pointless fragmentation, and including extra layers might make the ecosystem of apps tougher to navigate, resulting in an absence of interoperability.
However as extra use instances emerge, the clearer it turns into: Layer-3s can decrease boundaries to entry for brand spanking new chains and decrease onboarding prices for customers with minimal safety tradeoffs.
The accessibility of layer-3s
Knowledge availability prices proceed to drop with will increase in blob measurement and various information availability layers. The fee to function a sequence then more and more turns into the associated fee to submit information commitments and state roots for withdrawals.
The fastened overhead price to function a layer-3 is thus considerably lower than the fastened overhead price to function a layer-2. Submitting information commitments and output roots to a layer-2 is considerably inexpensive than the associated fee to submit those self same transactions to Ethereum Mainnet.
Moreover, when a layer-2 chain is newly launched, depositing tokens into that chain as a brand new person will be costly. It requires each buying tokens on the layer-1 after which depositing these tokens from layer-1 to layer-2 — a complete of two layer-1 transactions. Throughout Ethereum Mainnet charge spikes, we’ve seen these transactions get prohibitively costly for brand spanking new customers. With a layer-3, onboarding for a brand new person will solely be two layer-2 transactions, which is a small fraction of the associated fee.
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This presents software builders and chain operators with new, more cost effective choices to bootstrap utilization and onboard new customers.
We’re already seeing this pattern with Base for instance; the chain has pushed outsized demand and has expanded help for layer-3s constructing on prime of it.
Your complete blockchain ecosystem can profit from layer-2’s dedication to the burgeoning layer-3 ecosystem, with much more builders capable of leverage the facility of layer-2 tech stacks.
Key options fueling the rise of layer-3s
From my vantage level, demand for layer-3s is surging and two options have shortly develop into probably the most extremely requested.
The primary is customized fuel tokens, which permit builders to make use of a layer-2 token because the native fuel token for a layer-3. Customized fuel tokens are nice for group improvement — if there’s an current group rallied round a layer-2 token, utilizing it because the native token to pay for fuel is a concrete subsequent step in direction of constructing an ecosystem. Customized fuel tokens can allow new use instances like in-game currencies for gaming ecosystem chains and token grants which immediately subsidize developer and person charges
The second sought-after function is various information availability, or alt-DA. This offers builders the choice to pick out the DA layer of their selecting, enormously decreasing transaction prices with the objective of minimizing safety tradeoffs.
Combining a layer-3 with alt-DA can provide builders low overhead prices to put up to the layer-2. That is along with sustainably low information availability prices, all including as much as the most cost effective attainable deployment of a layer-2 tech stack.
As layer-3s acquire momentum, I count on many of those chains to launch with each customized fuel tokens and alt-DA.
Powering the layer-3 future
Builders have extra choices than ever earlier than, and it’s “select your individual journey” relating to deploying a layer-2 or layer-3. All have their professionals and cons, and there’s room for all to succeed.
Whereas deploying a typical configuration, layer-2s will all the time be probably the most battle-tested, ahead suitable technique to launch a sequence. Nonetheless, layer-3s improve the accessibility of launching a brand new chain with extremely low price. I see key options like customized fuel tokens and alt-DA as necessary to the expansion and adoption of layer-3s, that are in flip necessary for driving innovation ahead with a shared imaginative and prescient for scaling Web3.
Kevin Ho is a co-founder of Optimism and a member of the product workforce at OP Labs, the place he oversees protocol improvement and contributes to the Optimism Collective. OP Labs’ mission is to speed up adoption of Ethereum with probably the most safe, decentralized open supply tech stack, the OP Stack. OP Labs additionally supplies sources and help to the developer group constructing and deploying on the Superchain.
