What is a layer 2 blockchain?

A layer 2 blockchain regularly communicates with Ethereum (by submitting bundles of transactions) in order to ensure it has similar security and decentralization guarantees. All this requires no changes to the layer 1 protocol (Ethereum). This lets layer 1 handle security, data availability, and decentralization, while layer 2s handles scaling.

What is layer 2 (L2)?

Layer 2 (L2) is a collective term to describe a specific set of Ethereum scaling solutions. A layer 2 is a separate blockchain that extends Ethereum and inherits the security guarantees of Ethereum. Now let’s dig into it a bit more, and to do this we need to explain layer 1 (L1). What is layer 1? Layer 1 is the base blockchain.

Are Layer 2 chains safe?

Since layer 2 chains inherit security from Ethereum, in an ideal world, they are as safe as L1 Ethereum. However, many of the projects are still young and somewhat experimental. After years of research and development, many of the L2 technologies that will scale Ethereum launched in 2021.

What are L2 fees & chainlist?

L2 Fees lets you see the current cost (denominated in USD) for doing transactions on different layer 2s. Chainlist is a great resource for importing network RPC's into supporting wallets. You will find RPC's for layer 2 projects here to help get you connected.