What are the blockchain expansion protocols? Introduction to popular blockchain capacity expansion protocol

Blockchain capacity expansion technology: a solution to deal with the surge in transactions

Faced with the increasing transaction volume, many blockchain networks are facing congestion and high handling fees. To solve this "scaling expansion" problem, a series of technologies have emerged to improve the processing capabilities of blockchain and thus handle massive transactions more efficiently. This article will explore the current mainstream blockchain expansion solutions in depth.

Mainstream blockchain capacity expansion protocol

The current blockchain capacity expansion strategy covers a variety of technical paths such as on-chain, off-chain, multi-chain interaction and data compression, and each has its own applicable scenarios. These solutions are designed to improve network performance and transaction throughput. With the popularization of blockchain applications, expansion technology is also constantly evolving to adapt to larger-scale transactions and user needs. The details are as follows:

1. On-chain expansion: Improve performance by optimizing the structure of the blockchain itself. For example:

   • Increase block capacity: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Improve transaction processing capabilities by increasing the block size.
   • Short block generation time: Litecoin shortens the block generation time to 2.5 minutes, thereby speeding up transactions.
   • SegWit (Secretary Witness): Bitcoin's SegWit frees up more space and improves effective transaction capacity by optimizing transaction data structure.

2. Off-chain expansion: Transfer transaction processing to the outside of the blockchain to reduce the burden on the main chain. For example:

   • Lightning Network: is mainly used for Bitcoin, allowing users to create payment channels off-chain, conduct multiple small transactions, and only record the final settlement results to the main chain.
   • State Channels: Suitable for smart contract blockchains such as Ethereum, allowing multiple parties to interact multiple times off-chain, and the final result will be written to the blockchain.
   • Plasma: The second-layer expansion solution proposed by Ethereum is similar to the "sub-chain" off-chain. It independently processes a large number of transactions and only submits status updates to the main chain.

3. Sharding:Sharding the blockchain network into multiple independent "slices", each sharding processs part of the data and transactions in parallel, significantly improving the overall throughput. Ethereum 2.0 adopts sharding technology.

4. Sidechains: Blockchains independent of the main chain, but connected to the main chain, allowing two-way transfer of assets. Sidechains can use different protocols and features without affecting the main chain. For example, Polygon provides a sidechain expansion solution for Ethereum.

5. Rollups: Ethereum's important expansion protocol packages a large number of off-chain transactions into a single transaction to process, and then submits the final state to the main chain.

   • Optimistic Rollups: Assume that all off-chain transactions are valid and only verified when there is a dispute, so as to improve transaction speed.
   • ZK-Rollups (Zero Knowledge Summary): Use zero-knowledge proof technology to package and verify transactions to achieve efficient batch processing while ensuring security and privacy.

6. Volitions: Combined with Rollups and sharding technology, users can choose to record data on or off-chain, balancing capacity expansion and security.

7. Layered Protocols:Build different scaling methods:

   • Layer 1 expansion: Expand capacity by improving the underlying blockchain protocol, such as the upgrade of the consensus mechanism of ETH 2.0.
   • Layer 2 expansion: Build independent protocols on top of the main chain to handle a large number of transactions, such as Lightning Network and Rollups.

The significance of blockchain expansion

Blockchain capacity expansion refers to improving network congestion and improving overall performance by improving network throughput and transaction processing speed when transaction volume and number of users surge. This is crucial to cope with the increasingly widespread application of blockchain technology, which can effectively improve the user experience and ensure the stable operation of the network.

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