Yesterday, I wanted to obtain a free NFT that signaled the completion of a course I was taking. The NFT might unlock additional content in the future, so, why not?

The first hurdle is to connect a wallet. (I’m not going to name the NFT issuer nor the NFT exchange because those details aren’t relevant) OK, the wallet choices appear to be: MetaMask, WalletConnect, and Coinbase Wallet. I don’t have MetaMask or Coinbase, so I chose WalletConnect.

A large list of wallets is displayed, none that I have, nor have ever heard of. Ledger is listed, but no way I’m connecting that account. So I install Meta Mask, create a login, create a wallet, stash away my recovery phrase, create a new Ethereum account, and transfer some ETH into that account. Only 30 minutes in, and I’m finally ready to nab that NFT!

OK, with that done I select the NFT and click Next. MetaMask pops up. It is asking for permission to switch to the Polygon network. Eh? What is that? Why? Ten minutes of research later (to ensure this isn’t some kind of scam — as I’ve written before, I’ve lost significant money due to ETH hacks) I have the Polygon network added to MetaMask.

Great, start over. Select NFT, Next. The NFT is free. Awesome. Next. “You don’t have enough MATIC for this transaction.” Huh? Oh. I need gas. Really awesome that I can’t use the ETH that I transferred for this. OK, so how do I get MATIC?

MetaMask has a Swap button. Great! Swap some of that ETH for.. hmmm. MATIC isn’t in the list. Why? Ten minutes of research later... Turns out I need to bridge. Of course. I hit the Bridge button and am taken to a website called MetaMask Portfolio. OK, cool. What is this? Ten minutes of research later, I’m convinced it's not a scam. However, MetaMast Portfolio isn’t showing my ETH balance. Why not? More research. Sync. Hard reset. Quit and restart. OK, the balance is there. Only an hour in, and ready to bridge!!

Looking at the bridge screen, I see that I can only receive Wrapped Ether (WETH) on the Polygon side. OK, no biggie, I’ll just swap it for MATIC once it's there. I have like $10 of ETH in my wallet so I’ll just send over $5. Hmmm. “For maximum reliability, please transfer a value of at least $10.” Screw that; transfer it anyway. Nope. Apparently, this is a hard rule, not a suggestion. Arrrg! OK, I transfer in another $10 of ETH from my Ledger account. Fifteen minutes later, I have WETH on Polygon. Sweet.

Now all I have to do is switch networks over to Polygon and swap. In MetaMast Portfolio, I click Swap, and then set the network to Polygon. And... set the network to Polygon. Polygon. Polygon. Why isn’t it switching? Screw this. Maybe I can just do it in MetaMask. Click on MetaMask — Oh, it's asking permission to switch the network. How did this POS make it out of user testing?

Anyway, I select 0.008 WETH to MATIC and MetaMask Portfolio appears to go off and find 5 different exchanges on which to do the swap. The ‘Best of 5 quotes’ is .02 USD cheaper than the worst quote. I then notice the 0.875% MetaMask fee (?) and click on the info button, and see that the fee is to use their ‘liquidity provider information aggregator.’ A quick calculation tells me that I’m spending 0.12 USD to save 0.02 USD. Ug. I don’t care anymore, I’m well over an hour into this journey and I just want to get it done. Approve.

“You do not have enough MATIC for this transaction.” What!?! I’m trying to buy MATIC? WTF!? I need MATIC to get MATIC? I research ways to buy a small amount of MATIC. There are ‘spigots’ which will give you a small amount to get started (apparently this is a common problem when bootstrapping into the Polygon network) but it isn’t enough. Fine, I’ll just buy a little MATIC and move on.

I click Buy. MATIC. Minimum amount is $25. What!? Whatever, I’ll swap the leftovers back to ETH later. It looks like I can use something called MoonPay. But I need an account. This isn’t quite KYC, but close. For the debit card, I want to use one that has a temporary (rotating) card number. That doesn’t work. Apply Pay? Nope. PayPal? No dice. I’m not giving this thing a credit card number. What do I do? Ten minutes of research on ‘how to buy a small amount of MATIC.’

I settle on doing a swap at CoinBase, converting from Cardano to MATIC so I don’t have to pay the ETH gas. I then transfer the $3 worth of MATIC from CoinBase to my MetaMask wallet. OK, finally, ready to ROLL!

With some MATIC finally in my wallet on the Polygon network, I’m able to nab that NFT. On Polygon. Which kind of feels like parking your car in a bad neighborhood.

It’s currently the Layer 2 Summer and Level 2 protocols like Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base are all enjoying massive adoption.

The Layer-2 protocols promise to solve many issues plaguing Ethereum such as scalability and high transaction costs. However, as my rant above demonstrates, the user experience is hardly seamless.

For those that are new to this, bridging funds refers to the process of transferring assets from a Layer-1 network, like Ethereum, to a Layer-2 network, like Polygon. The operation typically involves locking the original asset in a smart contract on the Layer-1 network and minting a corresponding asset on the Layer-2 network. I’ve found that this process isn't always straightforward.

What I also found out later is that many of the wallet applications fail to automatically detect tokens and NFTs acquired on Layer-2 networks, and you have to both remember that you have them, and then add them manually.

I also learned that Layer-2 networks scale their Layer-1 networks through roll-ups. Roll-ups are a Layer-2 scaling solution that bundles multiple transactions into a single one, thereby reducing the amount of data stored on-chain. These roll-ups are processed off-chain and only essential information is submitted back to the main chain, for the purpose of improving both transaction speed and cost efficiency.

Roll-ups are often performed by a running service called a sequencer. The Sequencer temporarily orders and stores transactions off-chain before they are confirmed on the main chain. This allows for faster transaction times but introduces other problems. To make this process work fast, which is the whole point, sequencers are most often centralized, which creates both a single point of failure, and another security attack vector.

What I have to wonder is given Ethereum’s core security issues, whether the L2 chains are simply adding more complexity and more security problems along with a really horrible user experience. It seems to me that 3rd generation blockchains, such as Cardano and Solano have more to offer both users and developers and that it's only a matter of time before the hype around Ethereum is tempered. But then, in this industry, as in many others, the best tech doesn't always prevail.