What is Layer 1 Blockchain? Layer 1 Blockchain Scaling Solution

Layer 1 or Layer 2 are very popular terms in crypto, used to refer to the structure of the Blockchain network. Many of today's major ecosystems such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Polkadot are Layer 1 Blockchain projects. So what is Layer 1 Blockchain? Why is it necessary to increase the scalability of Layer 1 Blockchain? Let’s find out with Market247.io to answer these questions in the article below.

What is Layer 1 Blockchain?

First, let's have an overview of what is Layer 1 Blockchain.

Layer 1 Blockchain, also known as foundation Blockchains, act as the main network of the ecosystem. Layer 1 is capable of processing and completing transactions on its own Blockchain without the support of other networks. Layer 1 Blockchain usually has its own native token, which is used when paying transaction fees in the network.

In addition, Layer 1 also acts as the infrastructure for decentralized applications, protocols, and other networks to build on, such as Layer 2 or dApps. The Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana platforms are all Layer 1 Blockchain.

Read this article to get more information about Blockchain Layer: What are Blockchain Layers?

Limitations of Layer 1

After understanding what is Layer 1 Blockchain clearly, we will go deeper into the limitations of the Layer 1 Blockchain.

The main feature of Layer 1 Blockchain is the consensus mechanism. Different blockchains will use different mechanisms, thereby providing different speeds, security and transaction throughput. Therefore, each blockchain will have its own advantages and disadvantages. Here are 3 limitations of Layer 1 Blockchain:

Limited capacity

Layer 1 is a decentralized platform. With this layer scaling solution, the underlying blockchain protocol is changed to scale. The rules of the protocol adjust to increase the capacity of the transaction speed to help the Blockchain handle more data and attract a higher number of users. However, Layer 1 failed to achieve this goal as the number of blockchain users increased.

Consensus protocols are not very efficient

At the present time, there are still some Layer 1 that use PoW consensus mechanism, notably Bitcoin, which requires high computing power. While the PoW mechanism will ensure decentralization and security. However, they tend to be slow to process transactions when the volume is too high. This will result in transaction confirmation times and higher transaction fees.

A lot of ecosystems have moved from PoW to PoS mechanism, notably Ethereum. The PoS mechanism validates data blocks according to the stakes of users participating in the network, making the processing process faster and more efficient, while not consuming too much fuel.

Workload overload

As the number of users in the network increases, so does the workload on Layer 1. This reduces processing speed and capacity.

It is from the above limitations that pose the challenge to extend Layer 1 so that the blockchain can serve more users, and users can experience transactions with faster speeds and cheaper costs.

What are Layer 1 Blockchain scaling solutions?

After understanding what is Layer 1 Blockchain as well as the limitations of Layer 1. So what is the solution? There are 3 Layer 1 Blockchain scaling solutions. Let's find out how the Layer 1 Blockchain extension methods work.

Increase block size

To increase the size of the Layer 1 Blockchain will require a hard fork. Through this process, two versions of the blockchain are created, one with updates and one without updates. A larger block size will allow more transactions to be processed with faster times and lower transaction costs.

Improved consensus protocol

The move of the blockchain from the PoW consensus mechanism, which is slow and resource-intensive, to using the PoS mechanism, will greatly increase the scalability of the Layer 1 blockchain. PoS mechanisms have faster transaction speeds, but they have the limitation of relatively poor security.

Sharding

Sharding is a database partitioning technique. This technique is commonly applied to distributed ledger technology.

Sharding involves splitting the network and node into a set of blocks containing different databases. Segmentation helps to divide the workload into different sub-parts, thereby improving transaction speed. Each shard is responsible for managing a small set of activities for the entire network, which contains separate transactions, nodes, and blocks.

Nodes at this point will not need to maintain a complete copy of the entire blockchain. Instead, each node reports back to the main chain as part of its completed work, thereby sharing the state of local data, including balances and addresses, and other key metrics.

Distinguish Layer 1 and Layer 2

We have learned about what is Layer 1 blockchain. However, a lot of people confuse Layer 1 and Layer 2. Layer 1 and Layer 2 Blockchain manage different roles in the Blockchain. So what is the difference between Layer 2 and Layer 1 Blockchain?

Specifically, Layer 2 is the name of solutions to solve the problem of scalability of Layer 1. Layer 2 has the common feature that they are built on Layer 1 and inherit the ability to security and compute. Availability of data from Layer 1. Compared to Layer 1, Layer 2 has better processing capacity, thereby reducing costs and increasing transaction speed.

Conclusion

At the present time, it can be seen that most of the largest ecosystems in the crypto market are in Layer 1. Through this article, Market247.io believes that you have understood what is Layer 1 Blockchain and why we need to increase the scalability of Layer 1 Blockchain. If you have any questions, don't forget to send us a message for a timely response.

Disclaimer: This article is only intended to provide information about what is Layer 1 Blockchain. This is not investment advice at all.

FAQ - What is Layer 1 Blockchain?

What is the fastest Layer 1 Blockchain?

TechPay is providing the world's first blockchain with real-time transactions in the NFT world. TechPay Coin's blockchain has 300,000 TPS (Transactions Per Second) making it the fastest blockchain ever in existence.

Is Solana Layer 1 or Layer 2?

Solana is a Layer 1 Blockchain designed to facilitate smart contracts and the creation of new decentralized applications (DApps).

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