A more affordable Ethereum Network, a reality these days with Layer 2 platforms like Polygon
Big relief in transaction costs for Ethereum users with Layer 2 platforms like Polygon
One of the oldest, and most popular smart contract Blockchain platforms is Ethereum of course. Ehereum has progressed in the way of becoming a more affordable platform to use, with the rise of Layer 2 platforms, that allow transactions to happen off chain, thus lowering gas fees and speeding up transaction times.
Nowadays, most Ethereum users make use of Layer 2 platforms like Polygon to do needed transactions in Dex, Defi, NFTs platforms etc as Ethereum’s Defi and Dex platforms like Aave, curve, Uniswap also are in Polygon now.
Blockchains are focused on tapping into liquidity of the Ethereum ecosystem through interoperability enabling infrastructures
So, Ethereum survives for now, with competing layer 1 Blockchains not killing Ethereum. Focus for competing layer 1 Blockchains has been to allow for interoperability, meaning have cryptos that are native to other Blockchains interact cross-chain, allowing for cross chain transfers of crypto, say from Ethereum Blockchain to other Blockchains - Binance Smart Chain, Solana, Terra etc.
This has become a reality with bridges built by Blockchain developers allowing for interoperability.
Ethereum Network survives aided by Layer 2 platforms making affordable transactions a reality
Therefore, Ethereum will anyway survive for now, the Blockchain has the first mover advantage, plus Ethereum still benefits with new users that can access apps using Layer 2 platforms like Polygon.
So, for now, the way Ethereum blockchain can be somewhat affordable to use is via layer 2 protocols which is an improvement to having the option of only layer 1 Ethereum DEFI which we all know is for large investors doing really high value transactions, who can afford Ethereum’s costly transaction fees.
Efforts to convert the Ethereum Network into a scalable platform with the transition to Ethereum 2.0
Still, there are plans to have Layer 1 Ethereum get more scalable with Ethereum 2.0 transition in progress. Yes, there was buzz about this, and Phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0 had the Beacon Chain come about, with the community and validators, delegating and staking Ethereum for bringing Ethereum 2.0 to life that would be a Proof of Stake mechanism chain.
The 1st year of the Beacon Chain got over last month, which was last year 2021 in December.
Merge of the Ethereum Mainnet with the Beacon Chain is the next Phase in the roadmap to Ethereum 2.0
After this, there is more progress in the development of the Ethereum 2.0 Blockchain, with the merging of the Beacon Chain with the mainnet expected sometime in May or June this year if the code formalities are finished by February.
Infact, the Ethereum post merge environment can now be tested by users on the Kintsugi Testnet, which was made live in December.
After the merge, withdrawal of locked ETH that was locked by validators for staking will be enabled, with a post merge hard fork that would be scheduled to take place 6 months after the merge.
Scalable Ethereum 2.0 due to sharding
Next step is the Surge stage, which will improve the scalability of Ethereum through sharding, as Ethereum 2.0 will have 64 shards , which are 64 new chains. In Ethereum 2.0 transaction load will be spread between the network’s 64 shards, which increases the scalability of the Network.
Even Ethereum 2.0 is bound to get used by leveraging Layer 2 Platforms
However, over time as transaction load increases, Ethereum 2.0 would also congest being overloaded with transactions, so Layer 1 Ethereum is bound to get expensive again sometime in the future even after it scales through sharding with its transition to Proof Of Stake Ethereum 2.0.
Therefore, Layer 2 Blockchain Platforms built on top of Ethereum like Polygon will take over.
Most Ethereum users would eventually shift their investments from Layer 1 Ethereum Platform to Layer 2 platforms like Polygon, where they can engage in DEFI and other activities in much lower fees.
This phenomenon has already happened now with Ethereum 1.0 , so it will be nothing new.
Ethereum has become a layer 2 centric Blockchain platform from being a layer 1 centric one
Ethereum Blockchain is here to stay, it is not going to be vanquished from the Blockchain Ecosystem anytime soon
One thing is certain, Ethereum will survive, the Network’s first mover advantage is hard to beat.
Other Blockchains may gain dominance and make the required arrangements with infrastructure to bring Ethereum users into their platform through various interoperability enabling infrastructure.
Ethereum Network can still be used via Layer 2 platforms as well, where scalability and low fees is a reality.
This article is based on this article
which articulates the views of Ethereum’s co-founder, the popular Vitalik Buterin himself, please read it here.
