#231: Decrypting the Layers
In this email:
Sony recently launched the Minato testnet, an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain
Why do blockchains have layers?
Layer 1 vs Layer 2: What exactly is the difference?
Soneium Minato
Sony's blockchain arm launched the Soneium Minato public testnet (Sony’s Ethereum Layer 2), along with the Soneium Spark incubator.
This initiative by Sony to make a mark in Web3 (feels a few years after-the-boom, but for what it's worth!) aims to offer developers benefits, provide funding opportunities, and gain traction from major partners:
Soneium Spark offers developers up to $100,000 in investment
Key partners include Astar Network, Circle, Optimism, Alchemy, The Graph, and Chainlink
Subsidiaries across music, film, education, and gaming will participate in the incubator, reflecting Sony’s broad commitment to integrating Web3 across its diverse businesses
Why do blockchains have layers?
By design, it is a structural necessity that blockchains have layers to successfully address scalability, security, and decentralization.
Layer 1 = “the base layer” = responsible for fundamental functions, such as consensus, security, overall, framework, etc.
Layer 2 = aims to enhance scalability by processing transactions off the main blockchain and then recording them back to the main chain
The layered approach helps tackle the "blockchain trilemma", which is the idea that a blockchain cannot simultaneously achieve maximum decentralization, security, and scalability
Layer 1 vs Layer 2 in Ethereum
Of course, I’m back at Ethereum, one of my favorites!
Ethereum is a Layer-1 blockchain
Arguaby the most trusted, battle-tested, and secure blockchain after Bitcoin, Ethereum's first block in 2015 was originally based on a proof-of-work mechanism, now on a proof-of-stake mechanism after the big transition in 2022
This made transactions on the Ethereum blockchain more cost and energy effective
However, Ethereum's Layer 1 would still only be able to process 20~30 transactions per second
Hence, Layer-2
Primarily divided into two categories -- optimistic rollup and zero-knowledge rollups -- Layer 2 Ethereum blockchains process transactions off the main chain, increasing speed and reducing transaction costs
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