One of the important innovations that might change the future of Web 3.0 is sidechains. It is lately launched by some of the largest blockchain providers in the world like Avalanche, Binance, Polygon, etc. Large companies are investing millions of dollars on side chains for good.
Sidechains are a multi-chain solution for crypto scalability issues. Many projects have faced issues like stalling after reaching a certain level in number. The gas fees for Ethereum are expensive, while Solana gets congested often and needs to be turned off for good. For Web 3.0 to be the future of finance, it must be cost-effective, fast, and secure. Earlier, companies used L-2 (layer two) solutions, however, did not reap the best results. Sidechains are different from L-2 and may be the best solution as crypto enters mainstream adoption.
What is Sidechain?
Sidechain has different names by different providers. Avalanche names it subnet, Ankr names it application chains, and Polygon names it SuperNet. Some of the other names are nested blockchains, parachains, or application-specific sidechains. Like every other thing in the software development world, there are various undertakings and features. Some side chains are independent and equal, while others rely on their parents.
Sidechains offer higher scalability because the developers can launch them for a specified role. Like avalanche systems dedicated chains for specified functions. They are designed to deal with particular types of high-frequency transactions. If any one type of transaction causes issues, the entire blockchain will not stop, only the particular sidechain.
Also Read: Blockchain of Things: Growing Adoption with Blockchain Prominence, IoT and Web 3.0
Drawbacks of Side Chains
There are plenty of sidechain applications and the best option to put forward with Web 3. However, there are rules attached to side chains that are not foolproof to poor architecture. Most of the Dapps or decentralized applications are not known to the nuts and bolts of Web3 infrastructure, validator networks, and nodes. These are crucial to process high-speed transactions and ensure reliability and security. The security features of a powerful blockchain do not focus on an individual sidechain. Since every sidechain has it’s a unified mechanism, the validator feed of its own and vulnerabilities are based on the configuration of the developer.
A hack of $620 million Ethereum was hacked on an Axie infinity side-chain Ronin. Although it is an absolute failure for network security, the sidechain was successful to process more than 500% more transactions than Ethereum, showcasing its true potential in terms of web3 scalability despite security concerns. Security is the major ambush related to the sidechain. They depend on the DApp developer’s efficiency to run their infrastructure. Once the industry can flourish to its true potential, security concerns are just a minor issue compared to the advantages of sidechains.
Also Read: The Ideal Web 3.0 Business Outlook During a Global Crypto Market Bear-Stump
Scalability: The Main Concern in Web3
People believe that security, decentralization, and scalability are developer issues. However, there are consequences as it is directly connected with global finance and affects everything. L2s and side chains are pointless terms but have a great advantage on the architecture of web3 and are perfect for scalability and liquidity. Web3 is a doorway towards global economic independence with significance for industrial growth across the world.
Ethereum and bitcoin were primarily created based on decentralization and security. Scalability was out of the picture. However, both have been a huge success. In terms of scalability, both are slow at 7TPS and 15TPS. In comparison, Visa can handle 24000TPS. To encourage the adoption of cryptocurrency worldwide, sidechains can become the future of web3 scalability. While the world’s active development companies are currently working on sidechains and promoting them, it might be the best innovation for web3 after smart contracts.
In Conclusion
With the potential of side chains in scalability, it is impossible to imagine web3 without it. Companies across the world are vigorously promoting the technology and the node infrastructure that aids it. The blockchain trilemma can be solved if the developers focus on specific applications of sidechains. With the help of a ready-made framework, it is easy to launch a blockchain dedicated to specified applications. In terms of decentralization and security, blockchain is way ahead of other centralized financial institutions. The only pillar that will make blockchain the future of finance is scalability, which now can be easily achieved with the help of sidechains.
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