What is the difference between L1 and L2 Ethereum?

Layer 1 refers to a base network, such as Bitcoin, BNB Chain, or Ethereum, and its underlying infrastructure . Layer-1 blockchains can validate and finalize transactions without the need for another network. Making improvements to the scalability of layer-1 networks is difficult, as we’ve seen with Bitcoin.

Layer 2 is a term used for solutions created to help scale an application by processing transactions off of the Ethereum Mainnet (layer 1) while still maintaining the same security measures and decentralization as the mainnet . Layer 2 solutions increase throughput (transaction speed) and reduce gas fees.

L1 solutions are native blockchains with varying performance and utility, such as Avalanche, Solana, and Terra; Layer-2 (L2) solutions are protocols that integrate with the underlying L1 (Ethereum in this case) to increase throughput and usability.

The Lightning Network (LN) is a “layer 2” payment protocol layered on top of a blockchain-based cryptocurrency such as bitcoin or litecoin . It is intended to enable fast transactions among participating nodes and has been proposed as a solution to the bitcoin scalability problem.