Hundreds of Bitcoin Layer 2s Now Operating, But What Does That Mean?

Unbeknownst to most of the Bitcoin community, there are apparently 400 ‘layer 2s’ operating on the blockchain.

Bitcoin layer 2 (L2) protocols are seeing increasing developer activity, according to a new report from Electric Capital, with Lightning and Stacks emerging as the most active projects.

L2s have been gaining traction as a way to scale Bitcoin and enable more complex applications on the network. They work by processing transactions off-chain and then submitting a compressed batch, or roll-up, to the main chain periodically.

This approach can significantly increase the throughput and reduce the costs of transactions on Bitcoin, while still maintaining the security of the base layer.

As of the second quarter of 2023, there were four projects that stood out in terms of developer activity, according to the Electric Capital report: Lightning, Stacks, Rootstock and Xaya.

Lightning is a well-known L2 that enables fast, low-cost payments on Bitcoin. It has been in development for several years and is already used by a number of applications and services.

Stacks is another L2 that has been gaining attention recently. It is designed to bring smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps) to Bitcoin.

Stacks has its own token, STX, which is used to pay for transactions and to participate in the network’s consensus mechanism.

Rootstock is an L2 that provides a virtual machine on Bitcoin, enabling developers to deploy Ethereum smart contracts on the network. It also has its own token, RSK, which is used for gas fees and to participate in the network's security.

Finally, Xaya is an L2 that is designed to enable the creation of decentralized games and other interactive applications on Bitcoin. It has its own token, CHI, which is used to pay for transactions and to participate in the network's consensus mechanism.

These four projects are just a few of the many L2 protocols that are being developed on Bitcoin. As L2s continue to mature and gain adoption, they could play a major role in scaling Bitcoin and enabling a wider range of use cases on the network.

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