---
_id: '13988'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Most permissionless blockchains inherently suffer from throughput limitations.
Layer-2 systems, such as side-chains or Rollups, have been proposed as a possible
strategy to overcome this limitation. Layer-2 systems interact with the main-chain
in two ways. First, users can move funds from/to the main-chain to/from the layer-2.
Second, layer-2 systems periodically synchronize with the main-chain to keep some
form of log of their activity on the main-chain - this log is key for security.
Due to this interaction with the main-chain, which is necessary and recurrent,
layer-2 systems impose some load on the main-chain. The impact of such load on
the main-chain has been, so far, poorly understood. In addition to that, layer-2
approaches typically sacrifice decentralization and security in favor of higher
throughput. This paper presents an experimental study that analyzes the current
state of Ethereum layer-2 projects. Our goal is to assess the load they impose
on Ethereum and to understand their scalability potential in the long-run. Our
analysis shows that the impact of any given layer-2 on the main-chain is the result
of both technical aspects (how state is logged on the main-chain) and user behavior
(how often users decide to transfer funds between the layer-2 and the main-chain).
Based on our observations, we infer that without efficient mechanisms that allow
users to transfer funds in a secure and fast manner directly from one layer-2
project to another, current layer-2 systems will not be able to scale Ethereum
effectively, regardless of their technical solutions. Furthermore, from our results,
we conclude that the layer-2 systems that offer similar security guarantees as
Ethereum have limited scalability potential, while approaches that offer better
performance, sacrifice security and lead to an increase in centralization which
runs against the end-goals of permissionless blockchains.
acknowledgement: This work was supported in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento
de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)—Brazil (CAPES), in part by the Fundação para
a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under Project UIDB/50021/2020 and Grant 2020.05270.BD,
in part by the Project COSMOS (via the Orçamento de Estado (OE) with ref. PTDC/EEI-COM/29271/2017
and via the ‘‘Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa na sua componente Fundo Europeu
de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER)’’ with ref. Lisboa-01-0145-FEDER-029271), and
in part by the project Angainor with reference LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-031456 as well
as supported by Meta Platforms for the project key Transparency at Scale.
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Ray
full_name: Neiheiser, Ray
id: f09651b9-fec0-11ec-b5d8-934aff0e52a4
last_name: Neiheiser
orcid: 0000-0001-7227-8309
- first_name: Gustavo
full_name: Inacio, Gustavo
last_name: Inacio
- first_name: Luciana
full_name: Rech, Luciana
last_name: Rech
- first_name: Carlos
full_name: Montez, Carlos
last_name: Montez
- first_name: Miguel
full_name: Matos, Miguel
last_name: Matos
- first_name: Luis
full_name: Rodrigues, Luis
last_name: Rodrigues
citation:
ama: Neiheiser R, Inacio G, Rech L, Montez C, Matos M, Rodrigues L. Practical limitations
of Ethereum’s layer-2. IEEE Access. 2023;11:8651-8662. doi:10.1109/access.2023.3237897
apa: Neiheiser, R., Inacio, G., Rech, L., Montez, C., Matos, M., & Rodrigues,
L. (2023). Practical limitations of Ethereum’s layer-2. IEEE Access. Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2023.3237897
chicago: Neiheiser, Ray, Gustavo Inacio, Luciana Rech, Carlos Montez, Miguel Matos,
and Luis Rodrigues. “Practical Limitations of Ethereum’s Layer-2.” IEEE Access.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2023.3237897.
ieee: R. Neiheiser, G. Inacio, L. Rech, C. Montez, M. Matos, and L. Rodrigues, “Practical
limitations of Ethereum’s layer-2,” IEEE Access, vol. 11. Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, pp. 8651–8662, 2023.
ista: Neiheiser R, Inacio G, Rech L, Montez C, Matos M, Rodrigues L. 2023. Practical
limitations of Ethereum’s layer-2. IEEE Access. 11, 8651–8662.
mla: Neiheiser, Ray, et al. “Practical Limitations of Ethereum’s Layer-2.” IEEE
Access, vol. 11, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2023,
pp. 8651–62, doi:10.1109/access.2023.3237897.
short: R. Neiheiser, G. Inacio, L. Rech, C. Montez, M. Matos, L. Rodrigues, IEEE
Access 11 (2023) 8651–8662.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2023-08-09T12:09:57Z
date_published: 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2024-10-09T21:06:38Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '000'
department:
- _id: ElKo
doi: 10.1109/access.2023.3237897
external_id:
isi:
- '000927831000001'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: 4b80b0ff212edf7e5842fbdd53784432
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2023-08-22T06:37:48Z
date_updated: 2023-08-22T06:37:48Z
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file_name: 2023_IEEEAccess_Neiheiser.pdf
file_size: 1289285
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success: 1
file_date_updated: 2023-08-22T06:37:48Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 11'
isi: 1
keyword:
- General Engineering
- General Materials Science
- General Computer Science
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
month: '08'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 8651-8662
publication: IEEE Access
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 2169-3536
publication_status: published
publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Practical limitations of Ethereum’s layer-2
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 11
year: '2023'
...