Although Ethereum is often praised for its open-ended, decentralized blockchain, scalability has never been one of its strong suits. On the Ethereum blockchain, high demand has led to slower transactions and outrageous gas prices.
An array of Layer-2 scaling solutions such as Polygon, Optimism, and Immutable-X sprung up across the Ethereum network hoping to solve this problem. Layer-1 refers to the blockchain architecture, whereas Layer-2 refers to a network built on top of the underlying Layer-1.
The Layer-1 Scalability of Ethereum Will Improve
While scalability remains a problem for Ethereum, Surojit Chatterjee, the Chief Product Officer of Coinbase, has predicted that the scalability of the Ethereum network will drastically improve in 2022.
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Ethereum’s transition into a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, scheduled for mid-2022, is expected to bring significant improvements to the network, including the much-needed scalability boost.
Currently Ethereum can only handle 15-45 transactions per second, whereas Polygon boasts speeds of up to 65,000 transactions per second on a single side chain.
Although L1 is expected to improve in 2022, Chatterjee still believes that L2, which grew by 11,000% in 2021, will also make great strides this year.
As Layer-1 scalability drastically improves, Chatterjee explains that more L1 networks focused on gaming and social media could also emerge on Ethereum. In addition to this, he also predicts that more privacy-focused applications are likely to be developed in 2022.
On the Flipside
- Chatterjee believes that Ethereum could attract more regulatory attention as Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering restrictions are more strictly enforced.
Why You Should Care
Achieving better scalability, a Layer-1 problem within Ethereum, could potentially be the last piece of the puzzle to unlock Ethereum’s explosive growth.
