As just discuss we looked at different L1s, L2s, and sidechains.
My view is that Etherum will be the main layer one with a scaled L1 positioned with good enough trade-offs on the scalability trilemma. The future will be Etherum (2.0) L1 with rollup-centric applications build on top of one security model. My Favorite roll-up design is zkSync let’s see how this will go down in history open to an healty debate.
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I wish I had something to argue with you about mate, but I have to agree with everything you said.
Ethereum has good tradeoffs as a settlement layer and rollups will work for scaling casual transactions.
It’s wise to assume the rollups will only get better with time.
I think meta-transactions will become prominent in gaining Ethereum adoption as well. Not many people are talking about that. 
It’s not really a scalability issue, but being able to sign a meta transaction and have some service seek out the best/cheapest network alternative will probably be utilized down the track.
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I don’t have enough knowledge in this area to debate but I do think that Ethereum L1 is currently unusable in its current form for most ordinary people to transact on. In my opinion there needs to be solutions that can take transactions from the main chain in a secure and user friendly way and allow for smaller transactions to be finalized and then posted back to the main chain for validation. So far I have used both Polygon/swapped tokens using Quickswap, lent/borrowed on Aave Polygon, bridged some tokens to ZKsync and swapped some using ZigZag. Although I was able to navigate my way clumsily through both processes they are far from user friendly enough for the general public to use. The L1 gas fees to bridge between chains and back again are still a reality that needs to be solved for mass adoption. ZK roll ups make the most sense to me at present due to the finality of them.
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Hi
where do i get the test tokens from for the https://uni.zksync.io/
as they say the following:
This demo is no longer available as we are preparing the launch of the public testnet. Thank you everyone who participated!
Thank you
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People often talk about Eth 2.0 like it will solve the scalability issue and the high transaction rates as well. But I wonder to what extent that’s true? It seems other methods such as the zk rollups will be needed. From my understanding with the zk rollups, the transactions happen on a layer 2 and get synced back to the main chain. But I wonder about what happens if the transaction is considered invalid on the sync back to the mainnet. Is a scenario like that even possible?
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I agree that Ethereum and etherium 2.0 will remain a great L1 choice and that many roll up will be developed to ensure speed and cost reduction
I have been down with the Layer 2 for some time now, an early adopter of MATIC and been using ZK testnet and services… it is the future of ETH in my opinion, fast and cheap and now!!!
Agree, the transaction fees to bridge tokens is what has stopped me doing more really, it would be good it you could bridge your whole wallet of different supported tokens in 1 transaction
My experience with Layer 2 (L2)
I recently sent some funds to zkSync, for me TX fees are a little too high, but they really get the job done (reducing TX fees is asome). An area of opportunity I see, is the creation of an innovative way to move the liquidity to this Layers 2 solutions, the cheapest and fastest way posible. Also I encourage you to use the zkSync protocol, I have heard rumors about zkSync releasing a token, BUT DIOR (Doy your own research) click on this link for you to see the TX fees in different L2.
My perspective L0
I disagree a little bit will you @thecil. And here is my argument:
For me, Ethereum will not be the main layer (layer 0), as we can see at the moment an explosive growth on Cardano and Cosmos ecosystem. So rather than ETH being the king of the hill, I see interoperability between this three mayor blockchains (giants) and maybe even solve the scalability trilemma . This will create an enormous ecosystem by helping everyone to grow, instead of fighting to see which blockchain is the best !!!
My crazy Opinion
The solution I have been thinking to this trilemma is the following:
- We create three diferente blockchains (we specialize one with security, another with scalablity and the last with decentralization
- This step is the tricky one. We merge them into one single (we need to have the same programming language in this three different blockchains for us to been able to merge them easily)
If you have another crazy idea, share it with me!!!
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Agreed with Ethereum as a settlement layer. However, in my opinion, what solution should be used depends on the problem at hand. I’m no fan of one size fits all solutions, it usually means that things sucks for the most part. Side chains are excellent at doing what layer 1s are supposed to do while still side-stepping some of the main problems. Roll-ups, well, whatever data is there should not be high security so fine. As long as it solves problems there is space for it.
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Well other than Zksync, I don’t know anything about roll-up design alternatives. However, I definitely agree with you that Ethereum is the best L1 option for L2 protocols like rollups and side-chains, since they use the same programming language and are data is easily bridgeable between the two. As for the future, I can’t really add anything more than the fact that I agree with where you think the space is headed.
Until ETH 2.0 is actually implemented, I believe that Layer 2’s are the best way to go about swapping and trading (even though they don’t have their own secure model). The high gas fees on ETH for transactions have drawn many people away, including me. For example: I’ve been minting various NFT’s lately, and tried out the Polygon chain for newer sets and found the fees to be a fraction of what ETH had cost me. I can’t argue with the fact that Ethereum is the most vetted main chain for applications and widespread transactions however, but it just makes ETH 2.0 that much more exciting if it ends up coming to fruition. 
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Unfortunately, i too am not too nerdy to be able to debate this topic, however, i have watched some videos on the layout of Polkadot and how they are similar to ETH, but that its sort of a closed system that is auctioned off (parachains).
After seeing this and getting an idea on how other blockchains are formed and interact, i think ETHs dominance will eventually be shared, not necessarily over taken, by other Layer 1s but sharing layer2s to interconnect.
i think that over time it wont be a battle of what is better, but a conjunction of many top blockchains to help cover what others may lack (scalability, security, decentralization)
I think layer 2 are a must for the moment, Etherum prove us in the lasts years that layer 1 can’t scale properly for the moment, the fees are just insane, it would come to a point that it will become a major factor that will slow mass adoption of the network.
No one know when ethereum 2.0 will be release and fully fuctionnal. Layer 2 provide some nice alternative for the moment.
I’m no expert, i’m still working on my understanding of the whole rollups thing, but i understand the importance of scallibility to bring etherum to the mass and really be the network of the future.
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Yes totally agree. Love ZK-sync project looking forward to their test net and beyond. Check out the you tube video interview of Ivan interviewing the founder Zk sync.
The curated articles in the whole course are excellent. But L2BEAT was fantastic in that it highlighted what I can only think of now as another metric (at least for my purposes) for fundamentally analysing protocols and their tokens, particularly if you want or at least to know how to differentiate between pure DeFi and variations.
We are in such real time as these things unfold. An express train without self locking electric doors, marvellous !
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I’m pretty much the ordinary person and I agree that Ethereum is far from user-friendly because many still don’t know what these software and hardware wallets are. Now that I know more and I can maneuver around Dapps I try to explain to friends. I do see the frustration of having to pay $30 to $50 in gas. It locks someone with small amounts in their wallets and they are not able to do anything. Also, someone can simply make the mistake of sending tokens to an address that’s not on the right network. What if someone buys Polygon tokens to fund their Polygon wallet and they are not aware that the tokens they have purchased on the exchange run on the Ethereum main network? Adding new tech will further complicate the commitment of new users to try and even use Ethereum at first glance.
I believe Zk roll-ups could change that all by having the security of L1 and massive scalability potential with some decentralization. Multiple transactions are compressed in a batch and then synced backed to the main chain over time. The SNARK proof cryptographically proves the post-state of batches of transactions and this design allows for thousands of transactions per second. Layer 2 solutions like Zk Porter could do up to 20000 tps. To minimize censorship validators have to stake their tokens to play and have an incentive to go by the rules. Protocols Zk sync has guardians that rotate validators around and maintain a trustless ecosystem. Even if validators stop cooperating data is there to withdraw funds.
From the roll up centric Ethereum road map, I think implementing L2s straight into the Metamask is a power play because you instantly decrease the number of users falling for fake websites. That caught my attention.
With Eth 2.0 when consensus moves from pow to pos this thing kicks off and has nodes running different parts of the network scaling the main chain at a faster pace. Then Zk roll-ups split chain states and could achieve 100,000 tps.
I’m over here like woww, Eth is like some type of anime character that just isn’t done evolving into a stronger phase.
Ethereum is driving legacy finance like JPMorgan into its economic activity and many other companies will be pulled in. It is hard not to see Ethereum taking all because of its security compared to other blockchains and the foundation it has settled already. Zk roll-ups will be a majority of the ecosystem. Can it help scale globally with many other industries involved and not to mention the enormous worlds within each play to earn game? A multi-blockchain universe will be created.
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- It’s always a matter of adoption… nowadays it’s hard to foresee a change in this big Ethereum picture but i really believe that new chains will grew really much. And the pace of this changes won’t take too long to happen. I think there will be some 2 or 3 new big players with higher technologies and options to surpass the Ethereum bottlenecks. I don’t have a prefered rollup design, i will study a little more about it.
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Personally, the trilemma we face right now is a “future” problem. What we can do is build real-world use cases, that would benefit from either one or two things in the Trilemma. There are projects that should be decentralized, there are some that need to focus more on the security side.
What’s amazing is the tech we’re trying to achieve is light years away from the current systems we have now, and I think that optimizing the current systems in the world (finance, healthcare, others) can be done using one or two things in our Trilemma.
This thought process will eventually be an easier onboarding process to blockchain tech since old systems can be optimized. Then we can really solve the trilemma case 
Just sharing my thoughts, feel free to comment, disagree, and more. I also want to learn from you guys! 
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My opinion
Roll-ups are Fantastic
Side-chains are good
POW Eth good for security
I have a real problem with:
ETH 2.0/POS for a L1 asking for high security / Decentralization is dangerous & irresponsible.
Cant wait for Ethereum Classic 2.0 
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In my opinion, it’s important to look at the general population. For now, L2s and rollups sound very complicated for non-educated population. So I think L1 should still be the main horse in this race, unless L2 solutions are made super simple to grasp.
Since ETH has really high fees, it should lose some steam vs SOL, LUNA & AVAX, but maintain the first-mover advantage. However, that’s my current opinion, as of March 2022. Who knows what’s gonna happen, maybe some chain gets hacked and flips things around!
Still looking to see what MATIC, LRC etc. can do, especially in terms of MCap.
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