Florescent lights illuminate scuffed linoleum as second-hand clothes dangle precariously from a well-worn rack. A Spring Forward: Colorful Shirts sign hangs in the distance in stark contrast to the scene of an early twenty-something male sporting a baggy black t-shirt shuffling around patiently for the next great find. Being your own boss is a risky endeavor, but this man and his wife likely found some much-needed freedom in their online shop. This undoubtedly showed Gavin Meeler that when you pursue what you love, you just keep moving forward—one foot in front of the other, and the ground will come up to meet you. This may have also been something that gave Gavin the time and courage to press on with his biggest passion: expressing himself and portraying the world around him through art.

I chose to feature Gavin not just because I love his art and the meaning behind it, but because he and his story are sincere and genuine. No YOLO posts on Twitter. No yachts. No flexing. No dunking or negativity. No trying to be anything other than himself—a shy guy who loves art, puts himself out there and wants to see others succeed too. I can’t help but admire and respect everything about what he does and how he does it.

Meeler’s Creations

Meeler’s Creations are a prolific collection of NFTs from artist Gavin Meeler . While it’s hard to pin down an exact number, Gavin’s art comprises hundreds of unique pieces across multiple collections, amounting to thousands of NFTs that speak to the human experience and what he sees in the world around us. 30% of all proceeds from his art go directly towards supporting other artists by purchasing their works:

I actually had quite a bit of trouble narrowing down which pieces to showcase in this article because they’re all so emotionally provocative. Gavin’s work covers some of the more ineffable aspects of the human experience that are not often translated from the world of the abstract to visual mediums: from humor and sorrow to grief and hopefulness, Gavin highlights and addresses the many issues concerning the modern condition, chiefly those related to mental health and personal wellbeing.

Some of them are hilarious…

…and some of them are just…friggin’ terrifying!

Anguish the Clown—Jack the Clown Grinding Teeth—Fallen and I can’t turn back

Potato Head

Potato Head is a limited collection of Ethereum NFTs hand-drawn by Gavin and released bi-monthly. This series is a recreation of Mr. Potato Head and other iconic toys portrayed as being stuck halfway between human and toy.

There will only ever be 600 Potato Heads with 180 exclusive reward toys created. They are also released in 30 different generations with 20 1/1 Potato Heads and 6 exclusive 1/1 toys rewarded in each generation. The 1/1 exclusive toys are awarded to the top three holders from each generation.

Etherabloom

Etherabloom is a separate collection of digital crypto flower NFTs with each emotion-filled piece aptly named to touch on all of life’s questions. Only 7 out of 10 of these experimental 1/1 flowers have been released so far.

Holy Skully

Holy Skully is a separate 1/1 collection of 6 Skull NFTs on the Ethereum Blockchain. Like Etherabloom, Holy Skully is an experimental collection from Gavin.

Meeler Fish

Meeler Fish is a limited collection of two 1/1’s and two 1/3’s made available to holders of specific Meeler pieces.

‘Impact to the Psyche’

Impact to the Psyche is a limited series of Ethereum NFTs from Gavin that includes a mix of 1/1’s, 1/15’s, and a 1/100 that cover dark, cerebral, almost tangible themes that poke at the neurotic little demons we all carry around.

Meeler’s Signatures

Meeler’s Signatures is a collection of Ethereum NFTs released on 10/19/2021. They represent Gavin as an artist and are priced for those in the community without deep pockets who still want to get involved in the space.

‘I hate that not everyone can jump into the space because of affordability…Think of them as if I’m signing something for you & putting a small doodle on it’

Gavin’s World

Gavin’s latest collection, Gavin’s World, is set to launch Thursday, November 25th, 2021. While his other collections focus on what’s important in the world around us, this collection will focus on the things that are important in his world.

This first image from the ‘Gavin’s World’ collection is already impressive as it is…but look closer. This piece is drenched in symbolism, featuring characters and elements that hold special meaning for Gavin.

This part features a balloon guy & a skeleton figure dangling from the balloon, seeing where it takes him🎈

Inspired by my love for Dr.Seuss when I was young, which lead to my love for Tim Burton as well. This is a symbol of their work mixed w/ mine

Check out that eth earring😎 pic.twitter.com/6Qzcy0PnDt

— Gavin Meeler (@Gavinmeeler) November 22, 2021

In this corner we see a clown named "cautious the clown." His nose is the balloon "Balloon guy" is holding onto. Cautious the clown is so cautious of everything, he is too terrified to do anything, so he does nothing. The best he can do is smile to feel like everything is okay.🤡 pic.twitter.com/i4MbmnEk58

— Gavin Meeler (@Gavinmeeler) November 22, 2021

Here we have what are known as "Heck's" they usually sit on an eyeball planet. They are these black figures w/ simple facial expressions and long socks. Under this you will see a "Happy Harry" this guy usually likes peaking over to show how happy he is, he is yellow with 2 horns. pic.twitter.com/X8Qo3G0Mcm

— Gavin Meeler (@Gavinmeeler) November 22, 2021

I'm this corner we see these outlandish blue lips, under that we see these words written "I'm shy and that's okay." Under that we have a "Shy Sheldon" brother of "Happy Harry." Shy Sheldon is always too afraid of any interaction, he prefers to watch & listen from a far. pic.twitter.com/1BpxQkc8DS

— Gavin Meeler (@Gavinmeeler) November 22, 2021

In my many months of covering NFTs, I’ve yet to see this level of detail encoded into an NFT. Absolutely ridiculous!

Heart & Soul

Needless to say, Gavin Meeler is by far one of the best artists on the scene: A true up-and-comer with talent and humility who pours his heart and soul into every piece. He’s definitely someone you should acquaint and familiarize yourself with.

Be sure to follow Gavin on Twitter and join his Discord so that you can keep up with the latest news and releases or even just chat with him directly.

There are many people in the world who are disingenuous, conniving and greedy. Mercifully, Gavin Meeler isn’t one of them. Perhaps one of the most endearing aspects of his work is how his humility, humanity and kindness translate in an expressive, yet entirely relatable way that, despite its strangeness, feels incredibly close to home.

Simon is a WEB3 developer and writer. When he isn't busy programming microcontrollers, documenting Blockchain software, and saving the world from centralization, he enjoys creating music and exploring the latest technological trends.

Hyper-focused and behind schedule, I sat staring intently at the glowing monitor nested to the side of my darkly lit home office; I always do my best work when I can tune out the rest of the world. And working from home has its perks too. I choose my schedule, I can listen to music as loud as I want, snack while I work, no one telling me, ‘ya got time to lean, ya got time to clean.’ I can just move at my own pace. That’s the dream, ain’t it?

I also live with battle a condition some of you may be no stranger to: ADHD. It is an SOB. I constantly need to remind myself to stay on task; my thoughts can race wildly, jumping from one ‘great’ idea to the next; even the slightest distraction can throw me drastically off course where it can take an embarrassing amount of effort to get back on track. A lot of managing this beast comes down to setting myself up for success.

Jimmy Eat World plays in the background—their newest release, Futures: Phoenix Sessions (Spotify ), is my latest jam. Hammering away on the keyboard and switching determinedly between tabs and windows, I hear the door behind me. Light blindingly fills the room as my 5 year old daughter’s silhouette appears. ‘Oh, man. I have got to get this work done!’ I think to myself in frustration. ‘Dad…I miss my grandma.’

My heart sank.

Immediately, my frustration dissipated. Aurora’s grandmother had passed unexpectedly a year earlier from cancer; she was only in her 50s. I turned to comfort her as she climbed into my arms. ‘It’s okay, sweetheart. She loves you so much. And don’t tell your cousins, but I’m pretty sure you were totally her favorite.’ While she still doesn’t quite understand death, she’s nonetheless intrigued by the idea that everyone will someday just…not be here anymore.

Death is a tragic inevitability that’s fascinated humans from the very beginning. In fact, it’s something just about everybody does their best to avoid. After all, where do we go when the curtains close and the stage is empty? When is it my time to go? Even in faith, we simply don’t know with any degree of certainty. Though as many wise people before us have posited, Death is dark and beautiful. It’s what gives meaning to the precious time we have.

‘You know, we have a lot of really good pictures of you and grandma Cheri. She absolutely adored you, kiddo.’

‘Remember that you die’

Momento Mori Latin. pronounced /məˈmɛntoʊ ˈmɔːri/, mə-MEN-toh MOR-ee • Memento is the 2nd person singular active imperative of meminī, ‘to remember, to bear in mind,’ usually serving as a warning: “remember!” • Morī is the present infinitive of the deponent verb morior ‘to die’

I first heard about CryptoMories from my @DeadFreaksNFT fam on their Discord server, but it wasn’t until maybe a day or so later that I caught my first glimpse of a Morie. ‘Well these look friggin’ awesome. Might be a good project to write about too.’ After sharing the project with my good friends and colleagues, Brynn and Reece (@HelloMSQ ), and doing some basic DYOR, it became apparent that CryptoMories was well-worth turning into a Discovery of the Day.

Needless to say, my friends have great taste

CryptoMories is a collection of 10,000 ERC-721 NFTs registered on the Ethereum Blockchain and stored via IPFS where they’ll forever serve as reminders to step away from NFTs and glowing screens to enjoy life.

Beyond the already great art and meaning behind the project, I was also surprised to discover that CryptoMories builds around an entire ecosystem of current and future collectibles co-created and led by artist and eponymous project creator iwwon , the first of which was Los Samos NFTs . Owners of Los Samos’ 125 hand-made NFTs are whitelisted for future projects along with fellow Morie holders, with all having early access to future releases.

Their team is currently focused on community building and outreach centered on mutual respect and support with an emphasis on mental health needs, and it shows. When I spoke to CryptoMories Discord admin, Tad, earlier today, they expressed how it’s ‘’…wonderful to see so many helpful and excited community members taking on leadership roles just to help and support one another.’ And they were right. I’ve gotta say, it really is a refreshing thing to see.

There’s so much tribalism and crap talk in and around the crypto and NFT space, but the Mories team and community genuinely care about and are supportive of one another. In my opinion, not just something needed, but something that’s entirely necessary. We always go further together, and humans need a bit of humanity and unity, or we’re just ngmi .

Mories are kind, mories are happy, mories are honest, mories are beautiful. Tired of watching depressing news on tv? Tired of hearing we’re all gonna die because of climate change? Need a bit of positivity?

Join the @CryptoMories discord.No need for a mori. Everybody is welcome

— iwwon 💀🚀 (@iwwon_official) October 29, 2021

What’s Comin’ Up for CryptoMories?

While the CryptoMorie Roadmap itself is undergoing some tweaks to help clarify the timeline and order of upcoming releases, there’s plenty to look forward to.

The Vandals and Cool Apes NFT projects are currently in development and will be available to Los Samos and Cryptomories holders. There are also plans for introducing lots of utility and potential tokenization features as their projects expand and reach their later stages.

There are plenty of other surprises in the coming months too, including merch and giveaways and even 3D metaverse avatars that will be used in their planned series of iwwon games (yes, this team was initially a gaming studio).

As someone who has struggled with depression and thoughts of suicide, we felt it was necessary to add a Morie help Morie channel in our Discord. Pop in there if you ever need support or if you’re ever wanting to be there for someone else 🖤

— CryptoMories 💀 (@CryptoMories) November 5, 2021

Sincerely Solemn Stats

All 10,000 CryptoMories NFTs have been minted, but you can still find them on the secondary market via OpenSea

• Smart Contract - 0x1a2f71468f656e97c2f86541e57189f59951efe7

Please Note: Stats are accurate at the time of writing, but be sure to check the original source for the most current information.

• Available Items - 10K

• Owners - 3.7K

Follow CryptoMories on Twitter and join them on Discord to catch the latest updates or even if you just need someone to talk to. And always remember, it’s okay to step away. Make room to enjoy life and those around you. Don’t just toil away on borrowed time where days melt into weeks, into months, into years. Remember to live…

‘Remember that you die…’

Simon is a WEB3 developer and technical writer. When he isn't busy programming microcontrollers, documenting Blockchain software, and saving the world from centralization, he enjoys creating music and exploring the latest technological trends.

On our last adventure down the crypto rabbit hole, we looked at the Scalability Trilemma and discussed the concept of scaling and how it applies to Blockchain architecture using the concept of ‘Layers.’ We also learned that our limitations are often rooted in false assumptions about what we can do.

In this article, we’ll continue our journey by ‘peeling back the layers’ to get a better look at just how these layers are used and what solutions currently exist. There is indeed some ground to cover, but fear not, young Padawan…for the Force will be with you, always!

We got this! ✊

Ready Layer-1

Much like the Oasis in Ready Player One , a Blockchain’s Layer-1 (L1) is considered the ‘Base Layer.’ This is the lowest level where solutions affect the main way that a Blockchain works. To scale on L1 means changing the rules of the protocol itself and doesn’t offer much to combat the inherent issues involved in L1 scaling.

For instance, the Oasis doesn’t seem to have any major latency issues, and that’s because it suffers from a high level of centralization. I mean, the entire premise of the story is a race for control over its fate. And while a more robust architecture spanning multiple layers sounds awesome, it would make for a pretty boring story…‘IOI’ could be like, ‘All your eggs are belong to us! Bwahahaha!’ and everyone else would just be like, ‘Cool story, bro.’

“If you push [the button]…and the whole simulation shuts down.”

Consensus Changes

‘Consensus changes’ affect how blocks are created.

Most notably, on the Bitcoin Network, different ideas on how consensus should operate have led to contentious forks that resulted in projects like Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold .

In Ethereum 2.0, the consensus algorithm will change from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) . The main idea behind this is to allow for faster block creation by getting rid of the computational overhead associated with mining/PoW.

In PoS, blocks are processed and validated by network participants who instead are required to stake collateral on-chain. This effectively incentivizes being honest since they have ‘skin in the game.’ Basically, acting dishonestly means losing some of their collateral via a mechanism known as slashing .

Sharding

Sharding changes how the network itself is distributed.

With sharding, a network’s database is split across different sub-networks where each ‘shard’ contains a portion of the network’s data. In the case of Ethereum 2.0, the main chain becomes one of these shards and will be the only one allowed to process transactions or execute smart contracts, where an additional Beacon Chain coordinates communication between the main chain and its shards.

Layer-2: Insert Coin

In contrast to L1 solutions, Layer-2 (L2) solutions change the way you use a Blockchain and can function independently from the main chain.

In our Scalability Trilemma article, we compared L1 vs L2 to writing a penalty in grade school with L1 being the act of writing 50 lines by hand onto a single sheet of paper. L2 would be more like typing the line once, then copy-pasting the remaining lines before printing it off to turn in to your teacher.

State Channels

‘State Channels’ use multi-signature contracts that allow participants to interact freely off-chain with the final results settling on the main chain. State Channels can be implemented in various ways that are often application-specific.

One notable example of a State Channel is the Lightning Network which creates peer-to-peer (P2P) payment channels where the final results settle on the Bitcoin Network.

The drawback to using State Channels is that the main chain has no way to validate what takes place off-chain. Each solution requires that participants rely on the security of the protocol they’re using.

This can be thought of as something like having a table at a swap or rummage sale. Payments and items can change hands quite a bit over the duration of the sale. But at the end of the day, everyone gets paid out accordingly.

Projects using State Channels:

• Connext

• Kchannels

• Perun

• Raiden

• Statechannels.org

Sidechains

‘Sidechains’ are essentially clones of their main chain. They’re, functionally speaking, almost completely identical; the only distinctions being that they run in parallel to the main chain and often implement their own consensus algorithms.

On Ethereum, Sidechains are based on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and are even able to execute Ethereum smart contracts.

Sidechains, like State Channels, also require that participants rely on the security of the protocol they’re using as the main chain has no way to guarantee data that’s processed off-chain.

Projects using Side Chains:

• POA Network

• Skale

• xDai

Plasma

‘Plasma’ chains are anchored to their main ‘parent’ as a ‘child’ chain. While each ‘child’ has its own consensus model, its primary function is to offload computations from their ‘parent’ chain.

Much like Optimistic Rollups, discussed further below, Plasma chains submit a transaction ‘fraud proof’ to their parent.

A popular analogy to explain Sidechains is to compare child chains to a Casino. You swap Dollars for poker chips, then cash out when you’re done, basically ensuring that your chips are backed by something of the same value.

Projects using Plasma:

• Gazelle

• Gluon

• LeapDAO

• OMG Network

• Polygon

Rollups

‘Rollups’ are one of the newest and most promising ways to further scale a Blockchain.

One way to think about Rollups is to consider the act of sending holiday cards to your Aunt and Uncle. Using L1 methods, you could send one card to each of them as well as each of your cousins. Using L2 would be more like putting all the cards into one envelope and sending them together. So one stamp vs five stamps, which is cheaper and less work for the Post Office, and your relatives still get all the cards.

The key advantage of Rollups over other L2 scaling solutions is that Rollups require that proofs be committed to the main chain. This means users don’t have to rely solely on the security of a given L2 implementation as transactions and contract executions can be secured by the main chain.

Optimistic Rollups

‘Optimistic Rollups’ batch transactions and contract executions off-chain and commit the result to the parent chain along with a ‘fraud proof’.

A ‘fraud proof’ is an on-chain ‘statement’ or ‘promise’ that can be challenged by any party that suspects fraud. These statements and challenges require collateral to be locked by each party, where either acting dishonestly means losing some (or all) of their locked collateral. Results committed to a parent chain by Optimistic Rollups are essentially presumed to be correct… (<– that’s the ‘optimistic’ part).

This is kinda like playing Guess Who or Battleship . Players operate on the honor system, except bystanders are allowed to call out cheaters. If the player was cheating, their funds get slashed; but if the challenger was wrong, their funds get slashed.

In the case of Optimistic Rollups, the challenge period can last up to a week or more. This gives extra time for the transactions to be scrutinized but also means users have to wait to withdraw their funds until after the challenge period has ended.

Projects using Optimistic Rollups:

• Cartesi

• Fuel Network

• Offchain Labs Arbitrum Rollup

• OMGX

• Optimism

ZK Rollups

‘ZK Rollups’ batch transactions and contract executions off-chain, but commit the result to the parent chain along with a cryptographically provable ‘validity proof’ known as a ‘zk-SNARK’, or Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge.

Wait…ZK what?

Zero-knowledge…Succinct…Mmkay…So that’s some pretty heavy terminology, to say the least. What this basically means is that, instead of assuming ‘optimistically’ that all participants are being honest, the on-chain commit includes mathematical evidence proving the results are valid without revealing details about what happened inside the batch.

This, in a way, would be more like playing Scrabble . Players can’t see each other’s tiles until they’re placed on the board, and the only way to make a new word is to branch off one that already exists. You can’t just add gibberish with tiles you don’t have on an empty section of the board…and if you do, I’m totally not playing with you anymore.

Projects using ZK-Rollups:

• Aztec 2.0

• Hermez Network

• Loopring

• Matter Labs zkSync

• Starkware

• zkTube

Conclusion

L1 and L2 solutions do offer great ways to approach scaling. However, the true benefits are realized when they are used in conjunction.

A perfect example of this duality are the many changes involved on the road to ETH 2.0 which include consensus changes, the addition of the Beacon Chain , and sharding ability. These upgrades prime Ethereum’s L1 to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the various L2 solutions we covered earlier in this article.

How exactly the ETH 2.0 upgrades work to better-serve L2 scaling solutions totally warrants a separate article altogether, but hopefully our adventure thus far has served to bring the massive potential a bit more into focus.

The journey doesn’t end here! Stay tuned for more technical topics just like this one!

Let us know if there are topics you’d like to learn more about too. We’re only just getting started, my friends 🦾

Simon is a WEB3 developer and technical writer. When he isn't busy programming microcontrollers, documenting Blockchain software, and saving the world from centralization, he enjoys creating music and exploring the latest technological trends.

Scaling a Distributed Network

Like any network, as capacity goes up, so too does its complexity. This gets much harder when we’re talking distributed networks. Fortunately, we can ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ to reach some perspective by looking at Brewer’s ‘CAP’ Theorem .

First published as the ‘CAP Principle’ in 1999, ‘Brewer’s Theorem’ basically states that distributed systems must sacrifice being either ‘Consistent’ or ‘Available’ in the presence of network ‘Partitions’ (CAP).

• Consistency - Responses are guaranteed to be up-to-date and accurate, or an error will be returned

• Availability - Responses are not guaranteed to be up-to-date or accurate, but will always be returned

• Partition Tolerance - Withstanding a network splitting into distinct sub-networks, kinda like ‘forking’

This often gets confused as a ‘pick two’ scenario, when in reality, it’s a lot more about choosing between ‘Consistency’ and ‘Availability.’

That makes a lot of sense when you think about it too. Distributed networks are inherently vulnerable to forking (partitioning). And if you’ve ever had to write penalties in grade school, you’ll know every line can be just a little bit different from the next. Even if you thought you were slick by running from top-to-bottom doing each letter at a time, each line would just look different (not that I’d know anything about that 🙄)

Now, you could have taken your time, carefully writing each line (or letter) with a monk-like focus, determined to craft your masterpiece and prove you’d learned your lesson…but that accuracy will have taken more time. Or you could have just flown through it, your pencil transcending space and time, each line (or letter) appearing in the blink of an eye, just wanting to get it over and done with. So what if it’s not consistent? At least it got turned in, right?

In either case, you made the choice between getting it done fast or getting it done accurately: available, or consistent. The lines will just be inherently different, even more so as the number of lines goes up, especially if you weren’t the only one writing a penalty. Your lines and Tommy’s lines can look a lot different, even though you have the exact same penalty and it was totally Tommy’s fault to begin with.

If we apply this to distributed networks, each line is like a node on the network, and in much the same way we chose between getting the penalty done accurately and getting it done fast, we also need to choose between whether our network cares more about consistency or availability.

For example, travel directions can change for a variety of reasons. Since it’s safe to assume most people would prefer not to be potentially stranded in the middle of nowhere and eaten by a family of bobcats, our network should prioritize consistency/accuracy. On the other hand, we should prioritize availability for something like the geolocation of a historical landmark since that shouldn’t change…and if it does, well, we’ve got bigger issues to deal with.

So then, how can we apply all this to Blockchain architecture? It’s a distributed network, it’s vulnerable to partitioning, and we stopped trusting Tommy after that whole debacle. This leads us to a concept known as the ‘Scalability Trilemma.’

The Trilemma

The ‘Scalability Trilemma,’ in many ways, reframes Brewer’s Theorem. In it, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposes that within current Blockchain technologies, there will always be a trade-off between Scalability, Security, and Decentralization when dealing with traditional approaches.

• Scalability - Efficiently sustaining an increase in bandwidth, that is, handling more transactions (Brewer’s ‘Availability’)

• Security - Guaranteeing the correctness and integrity of a network, including the ability to resist attacks (Brewer’s ‘Consistency’)

• Decentralization - The degree of resistance to large centralized actors, who might collude to manipulate data (Brewer’s ‘Partition Tolerance’)

Unlike ‘Brewer’s Theorem’, this is much more of a ‘pick two’ scenario:

1. Prioritize Scalability and Security, and we sacrifice Decentralization

2. Prioritize Scalability and Decentralization, and we sacrifice Security

3. Prioritize Security and Decentralization, and we sacrifice Scalability

OK, but what does this mean?

We already know that more nodes means more complexity, and since we don’t want our assets pulling a ninja vanish, this also means more time spent on validating data.

If we want less complexity and time, we need to scale back the number of nodes on our network. But wait…that’s centralization! Not that way! The other way, decentralization. Centralization means trusting a smaller number of nodes, and we don’t want to sacrifice security like that. No thank you!

But then, what do we do? We can have fast and accurate transactions, but not without sacrificing decentralization. And if we rely on a smaller number of nodes to gain speed, we have to extend a great deal of trust since there are fewer nodes validating data.

Since we’d really prefer to steer away from centralization, and we don’t want to sacrifice security, that leaves us with improving the ways that we can scale…but how does that work!?

A Layered Approach

To figure out the different ways we can improve scalability, let’s take a look at the different architectural layers of a Blockchain. The layering of a Blockchain is roughly analogous to the OSI Model which abstracts the protocols and concepts of computing or telecommunications systems into distinct layers.

In Blockchain architecture, Layer-1 (L1) is considered the Base Layer. It’s the lowest level where solutions fundamentally change the way the Blockchain works. This usually involves things like increasing the size of a block, decreasing the size of transactions, consensus changes like switching from PoW to PoS , or sharding . This also makes L1 solutions particularly tied to the ‘Scalability Trilemma’ as L1 is the main network itself. We’re unavoidably going to make trade-offs here if we want to scale. Remember, we can write our penalty fast or consistently, but not both.

What happens when we look at Layer-2 (L2) then? This is where things get interesting. If L1 solutions change the way a Blockchain works, L2 solutions change the way you use a Blockchain. We no longer have to rely solely on using the main chain. That’s right, we can offload overhead onto a secondary network which can work a lot differently. All that matters is that the final result ends up on the main chain.

If L1 solutions change the way a Blockchain works, L2 solutions change the way you use a Blockchain.

To put it another way, using L2 is kinda like the teacher revealing that they never technically said we have to do it all by hand…all they really wanted us to turn in was the same line repeated 50 times…

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to scaling a Blockchain network. There are always trade-offs to be made, but that doesn’t mean we can’t rethink solutions to a problem. Sometimes a bit of perspective and taking a different approach reveals that our limitations were based on assumptions about the scope of what we can do…

All it takes is a little bit of thinking outside the Blockchain 🥁

The journey doesn’t end here! We’ll be exploring more technical topics just like this one, including what the different Layer-2 solutions are and how they work.

Let us know if there are particular topics you’d like to learn more about too. We’re only just getting started, my friends 🦾

Simon is a WEB3 developer and technical writer. When he isn't busy programming microcontrollers, documenting Blockchain software, and saving the world from centralization, he enjoys creating music and exploring the latest technological trends.