Source: View on the Chain
While everyone is debating the "DA legitimacy" of Ethereum @VitalikButerin they are all discussing giving up the definition of layer2.
Indeed, the naming of layer 2 can easily directly correspond to Rollup, and since it is Rollup, DA is not on the main network and is questioned whether it is Ethereum layer 2 or Make Sense.
Because Ethereum’s expansion plans include Plasma, Rollup, Validium, etc.:
Plasma strictly limits DA to be on the main network; Rollup is relatively broad and can be used on all main networks. DA can also be mixed with DA. For example, ZK-Rollup mostly compresses and backs up data to the chain, and the off-chain environment calculation finally synchronizes the status to the chain based on ZK;
Validium is more flexible, DA Completely off-chain, you only need to submit the SNARK certificate to the main network after the calculation is completed to ensure data consistency.
In fact, these expansion plans are the result of a balance between the three impossible triangle problems of security, decentralization, and scalability.
From the perspective of expansion, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, Plasma is suitable for a second-tier payment solution with security guarantees, Validium is suitable for an independent application chain with higher scalability, and Rollup can become mainstream precisely because of it. Because a tradeoff was taken.
That’s why Vitalik believes that the definition of layer2 is too narrow. It can be divided into Strong L2 and Light L2 based on Security or Scale preferences. Only in this way, the layer2 industry will not be limited by Rollup, some Plasma, Validium, etc. expansion Only then will the plan remain in public view.
Then the question is, can’t we just let layer2 retain Rollup? Vitalik also gave an explanation (commenting on the 4 points mentioned by Vitalik):
1) Validium is more secure than some Rollups that use multi-signature management. This actually implies that if an expansion plan uses a chain DA is downloaded but the result is synchronized to the main network in the form of SNARK. The main network can trace it back and ensure the integrity and correctness of the data.
Compared with the Rollup solution that relies on a multi-signature governance committee to ensure this level of security, Validium is actually better. Although Rollup is more popular, if it only relies on multisigs to ensure security, it is not recognized; this implies that the Rollup project must make up for the shortcomings of the mainnet Rollup solution that relies on multi-signature security as soon as possible.
2) The security of the strict Rollups solution will be better than that of Validium. This actually means that Rollup can ensure the availability and integrity of data on the chain, and Ethereum Validators have the ability to verify and ensure security. This is consistent with Validium's approach of relying on off-chain security mechanisms makes security more direct and pure.
It is precisely because of this that everyone pays too much attention to Rollup, which makes Validium appear illegal; this seems to emphasize the legality of Validium.
3) The security of on-chain SNARKs + off-chain data is better than pure on-chain fraud proof + off-chain data, because on-chain SNARKs can at least ensure the consistency and integrity of off-chain data. If off-chain To create a set of data and only rely on on-chain fraud proof challenges, in actual application scenarios, the former is safer than the latter.
This is actually criticizing the scheme of storing some data off-chain and relying on on-chain fraud proof. Fortunately, such schemes are rare, and most of the data using on-chain fraud proofs are also on the chain;
4) Finally, Vitalik also emphasized that Rollups is not equal to Layer 2, alluding to Plasma and Validium There will be many opportunities in other directions. Layer 2 cannot be limited to the Rollup level. If it does not work, revoke the definition of layer 2.
In my opinion, it is wise for Vitalik to stand up and strip away the definitions of Rollup and Layer2, because once the layer2 that everyone knows becomes Rollup, in the face of the invasion of third-party DAs such as Celestia, Ethereum will fall into passivity.
Now let’s open up the concept from a high level. It’s no problem for developers to use third-party DAs like Celestia. Then if you SNARKs to the main network, it will be Ethereum’s Validium expansion plan. In addition, developers also You can explore broader expansion solutions based on ZK+Plasma. No matter how the market changes, Ethereum always "defines" everything.
It is not difficult to see that the Lego Building of Ethereum is completely supported by Vitalik’s forward-looking thinking!
Joy
