Hi!
I know this question is related to Polygon but I would like to have the Ethereum community’s point of view. After all, Polygon is a scalability solution for Ethereum and each one is making the other one better.
When I read about Polygon, half of the time, it is described as a Layer 2 solution. However, upon closer examination, it appears that technically, it functions as a sidechain.
I understand the distinction between Layer 2 and sidechain at a high level: Layer 2 security relies on Ethereum, whereas a sidechain is a completely independant chain that manages its own security with its own set of validators and consensus.
Though, I don´t really understand:
- what makes people think Polygon is a Layer 2. I also could ask “What part of Polygon architecture follows the Layer 2 pattern?” ;
- what makes actually Polygon a sidechain. I also could ask “What part of Polygon architecture follows the sidechain pattern?”.
I hope my questions are clear.
Thank your for reading and sharing your thoughts / explanations!
People probably think that because Polygon has always claimed to be a Layer 2 and the press just repeated it cause they don’t know any better.
Now that they have a half-assed zkEVM side project, they can also claim they actually are an L2, even though they really only care about their sidechain business.
Unfortunately, that’s the state of crypto these days. For most, the goal is to pretend to be decentralized, censorship resistant, trustless, anti-establishment, yadayada… all to distract from the reality that power is concentrated in the hands of a few founders and investors with even less accountability than a traditional corporation.