Key Takeaways
- In a recent report, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin mentioned that layer 3 will serve a better and all-inclusive purpose than layer-2 protocols.
- Layer-3 is going to perform different functions; for instance, customized functionality.
In a recent report, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin mentioned that layer 3 would serve a better and all-inclusive purpose than layer-2 protocols. The layer-2 protocols have served and functioned well by laying emphasis on "scalability," but Vitalik Buterin believes that unlike hyperscaling of the network done by Ethereum-based layer-2 solutions, layer-3 is going to perform different functions; for instance, customized functionality. This report comes after ETH's merge and other attached speculations about the "sell the narrative". Let us take a look at all that Vutalik mentioned in a full scale.
Read: Vitalik: Layer-2 scaling makes crypto payments ‘make sense’ again – KBW 2022
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shares vision for layer-3 protocols
Buterin explained his perceptions by highlighting three peculiar functions that layer 3s set to achieve in the years to come. He said that launching a third layer on the blockchain hits every vital point when it provides something entirely different that is absent in layer 2s. For instance, layer 2s has majorly bolstered scaling through Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Rollup technology.
Vitalik goes on to describe one of layer 3's use cases as "customized functionality"—alluding to privacy-built applications that would make use of ZK proofs to provide privacy-conserving transactions to layer 2. He mentioned this in a bid to prove that a three-layer framework where the third and second layer function differently can still fit together and work perfectly well.
He goes ahead to cite another use case, which he describes as customized scaling for peculiar applications that do not deploy the Ethereum Virtual Machine as a means for computation. Going forward, he said layer 3 can also be utilized for "weakly-trusted" scaling through Validiums, a ZK-proof technology.
Buterin implied that this might be advantageous for "enterprise blockchain" applications by deploying "a centralized server that operates a validium prover and consistently gives hashes to the chain." In addition, Buterin said that it is still unclear if layer-3 frameworks will be more functional than the present layer-2 types in the matter of establishing customized applications on Ethereum. He said:
One possible argument for the three-layer model over the two-layer model is: a three-layer model allows an entire sub-ecosystem to exist within a single rollup, which allows cross-domain operations within that ecosystem to happen very cheaply, without needing to go through the expensive layer 1.
However, Buterin mentioned that because cross-chain transactions are easily carried out and less costly between two layer-2s that have committed to the same chain, establishing layer 3s might not be a necessary upgrade to enhance the network's efficiency. Let us know what you think about this in the comment section below.
