Many times, layer 2 blockchains are marketed with ploys like "they enhance the efficiency" of the layer 1 blockchains or that they are protected by the layer 1 consensus mechanisms but none of this is true, recently I wrote a post on one popular layer 2 blockchain "Polygon" and the title was "Has Polygon really solved the flaws of Ethereum?" after which I decided to look deeper into layer 2 blockchains and I figured, these things are just stand-alone protocols trying to capitalize on the value and popularity of other layer 1 blockchains.
How?
Layer 2 blockchains are not Layer 2
They are called layer 2 like they are actually part of the code of the parent network, it is really comical how we've all been believing these lies.
Oftentimes, layer 2 blockchains claim that they are protected by the consensus protocols of their layer 1 blockchains but how true is this? Most layer 2 blockchains as of today have deployed system designs that enable transactions to be processed off-chain and finalized later on the parent blockchain.
Emphasis on "later", this implies that they'd function even if the layer 1 is down.
In fact, the use of the phrase "transaction finality" is such a brilliant marketing ploy to make the ecosystem system believe that these systems are truly dependent on the consensus of their supposed layer 1 chains.
I am no programmer but I sure as hell know how to read documentations and detect the lies within. What these layer 2 blockchain developers call transaction finality is basically the sending and receiving data to and from the mainchain.
The absence of this stage of transactions cannot entirely limit layer two blockchains from functioning.
Picture a typical protocol contacting another protocol via its application programming interface(API), literally, this is what these protocols do, they send data to the mainchain and receive data from the mainchain chain, these standardized interface or protocols for data exchange is all there is as a form of connection between layer 2 blockchains and their layer 1 blockchains.
All layer 2 blockchains are standalone networks "acting" as though they were really a part of the parent chain
I was reading about stacks and I couldn't help but crack a smile, it has even been recently revealed that BTC-20 tokens are not direct inscriptions on satoshis, these tokens have their standardized protocols that they operate within, just because they send messages to bitcoin and act as if they were linked to specific sats do not mean they are.
Of course, if these layer 1 blockchains were to experience downtimes, layer 2 may not function properly but that doesn't mean they wouldn't function at all, in fact, all layer 2 blockchains can move to adopt other chains as their new layer of transaction finality, so how can you call such a protocol a layer 2 of another when it can simply pack up and move?
Sure, the process can be highly technical but it can be achieved because at the end of the day, their codes are not directly tied nor locked to those of the previous parent networks.
So when you hear a project like stacks saying that they are protected by Bitcoin, that's a big lie, does bitcoin protect the lightning network? Did Hive protect Hive engine when it was attacked by DDoS traffic?
These chains have their separate consensus mechanisms, miners, validators, and witnesses.
The truth is that there are no direct protection mechanisms, especially for chains like Bitcoin and Hive where smart contracts are not a reality on the parent chain.
Layer 2 blockchains are very much stand alone blockchains that just choose to connect to one blockchain or the other for transaction finality and what not, but their parent consensus protocols do not protect them because they really don't care, it's not in their code to care, they just basically sign transactions posted to the chain, the layer 1 really can't verify the validity of layer 2 transactions the way I see it, so don't be deceived with all those proof of off-chain transactions bullshit, it's all empty talk.
The sooner we learn these things, the earlier we'd stop buying into crap because of a few buzz words employed to impress the markets.