The debate sparked by Bitcoin Magazine about what constitutes Bitcoin L2 is echoing the Ethereum community's past discussions. So, what exactly defines an L2? Let's break it down from both technical and ecosystem perspectives, advocating for an inclusive view of L2.
🔍 Technical Perspective of L2:
No New Block Space Creation: L2 solutions don't create new block spaces. Solutions that do are fundamentally L1.
Leveraging L1 for Data Availability and Security: L2 should use the underlying L1 for ensuring data availability and security.
🌱 Ecosystem Perspective of L2:
From the ecosystem viewpoint, L2's role is leveraging or extending the capabilities provided by L1. Taking Bitcoin as an example, let's explore how Bitcoin's inheritable and extendable aspects can be utilized.
💰 BTC Assets:
Every L2 narrative discusses how to create additional use cases for Bitcoin's trillion-scale assets, whether it's for trading or staking. The key challenge lies in constructing a trustworthy bridge to transfer these assets securely.
🌐 Bitcoin Block Space:
Bitcoin's block space is underutilized. The recent surge in Ordinals inscriptions can be viewed as the discovery of Bitcoin as a Data Availability (DA) layer. How can Bitcoin's extended protocols and L2 projects effectively utilize this space?
🔐 Bitcoin’s Programmable Capabilities:
Despite Bitcoin Script's limited capabilities, Taproot has significantly enhanced its potential, giving rise to solutions like bitvm. The challenge is in building stateless, trust-minimized arbitrations using Bitcoin's script.
📈 Expanding on Bitcoin:
Bridges + Programmable Environments: Transferring Bitcoin assets to a more programmable environment like EVM opens new application scenarios. Projects like BEVM and Merlin focus on bridge design, leveraging L1 security and ensuring scalability.
Smart Contract Layers on Bitcoin: RGB protocol, by utilizing Bitcoin's UTXO one-time sealing feature and off-chain transaction commitments, creates an offchain programming environment. Rooch’s "Stackable L2" concept takes this further, embedding full L1 state into L2.
🤝 Inclusive Perspective on L2:
An inclusive view sees L2 as a spectrum, ranging from centralized exchanges (CEXs) to pure L1 solutions. This spectrum includes various technologies like Validium, Plasma, Sovereign rollups, Op/Zk rollups, and side chains, each representing a unique blend of L1 and CEX attributes.
💭 Conclusion:
The future of blockchain is uncertain, but one thing is clear: the industry needs a scalable middle layer to bridge the gap between large-scale L1s and CEXs. Whether leaning towards L1 or edging away from CEX, the evolving landscape of L2 is crucial in shaping the next phase of crypto evolution.
#Bitcoin #Layer2 #BlockchainInnovation 🚀🌍