Blockchain Layers Explained: What Are They and Why Do We Need | CryptoSoul

Blockchain Layers Explained: What Are They and Why Do We Need Layer Solutions?

The Lightning Network is Bitcoin’s Layer-2 scaling solution.

Polkadot is a Layer-2 platform that solves Ethereum’s scalability issues.

If you have paid even a little bit of attention to cryptocurrencies or blockchain, you must have come across terms like Layer-1 and Layer-2 protocols. Wondering what these layers are and why they exist in the first place? Let’s find out.

Why Do We Need Layers?Blockchain is a unique combination of multiple already existing technologies – cryptography, game theory, etc. – with a large number of potential applications. Cryptocurrencies are just one of them. It brings efficiency, transparency, and security to remove intermediaries, bring down the costs, and bring efficiency.

The distributed ledger technology (DLT) stores information verified by cryptography among a group of users, agreed through a predefined network protocol without a central authority oversight. It’s the marriage of these technologies that bring trust between people or parties who otherwise have no reason to trust one another. They enable blockchain networks to securely transfer value and data directly between users.