Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions this year have had quite a rave but they have also received their share of the shares of criticism. Mempool founder Mononaut has ranged in his criticism and highlighted a number of technical aspects that are wise to keep in mind. A rather curious thing is that the same individual who created Bitcoin Ordinal shows his agreement with the standpoint of the Mononaut.
Balancing Bitcoin Layer 2 potential and critique
The reason for Layer-2 networks – other networks that allow for the transaction of bitcoins done on Bitcoin’s blockchain – is the ability to increase scalability and thereby transaction efficiency. The main blockchain is decongested therefore, transactions are processed faster and network spin charge is decreased resulting in lower fees across all bitcoin network.
Similarly, Layer 2s allow developers to integrate smart contract features, and as a result, provide more extensive opportunities for the protocol users. However, not everyone follows this idea. Let’s not forget about Mononaut, who is on the side having found several other aspects of this idea’s implantations insufficient. In a series of tweets the Mempool founder reasoned that if Bitcoin Layer 2 solution lacked cases of unilateral exit, it eventually had to work just as multi-signature system and not as the full-scale Bitcoin Layer 2 solution.
Prospects for Bitcoin Layer 2 expansion
He continued by saying that tokens in return for deposits, the most famous example being the MakerDAO, which runs on Ethereum, are no longer less than fraud schemes such as pyramid schemes. Meanwhile, Test Layer 2s are backed by upgradeable Ethereum contracts, and a single entity runs them as well. He identifies these as potential opportunities because they come disguised as hard blocks.
In the words of Mononaut, Layer 2s that are driven by the idea of coin lockup for prolonged periods of time, share the terrain with previous rip offs like the Hex 3.0. Furthermore, as simple as multi-signature of Ethereum is, Mononaut says it is nothing but a “copy and paste” operation. He made explicit the volume dangers of these systems that are technically undescribed just to compare them with Bitconnect in which they were just ‘a fig leaf of information’.
“Well known” Bitcoin educator Dan Held who is also a public supporter of Layer 2s on Bitcoin suggests that the release of such solutions is inevitable when the bull run begins to unfold.
