Try Quests to earn SOLPolygon Block Performance
Project : Polygon
Bounty Name : Polygon Block Performance
Question: What was the maximum and minimum recorded time between two blocks? How many transactions are done in a block on average? How do these numbers compare to L1 such as Flow or Solana, or other L2 such as Arbitrum or Optimism?
Date of analysis : 2022-07-24
Methods
Tables I used:
Polygon: polygon.core.fact_blocks , polygon.core.fact_transactions
Ethereum: ethereum.core.fact_blocks , ethereum.core.fact_transactions
Solana: solana.core.fact_blocks , solana.core.fact_transactions
Optimism: optimism.core.fact_blocks , optimism.core.fact_transactions
Arbitrum: arbitrum.core.fact_blocks , arbitrum.core.fact_transactions
Why Is Scalability Important?
Blockchain technology provides numerous benefits, including increased security, improved recordkeeping, and hassle-free transactions. However, scalability remains a major concern, prompting debate over whether layer 1 or layer 2 is preferable in discussions about new blockchain networks. Every blockchain network uses a decentralized system to complete transactions in stages.
The various steps needed for blockchain transactions frequently consume a significant amount of time and processing power. Consider a blockchain network that is clogged with transactions that are stacked one on top of the other. In such cases, the application is unable to fulfill all transaction requests from all users, resulting in inequity in user experience. As a result, it is clear that scalability is a key necessity for the future of blockchain networks.
Layer-1 vs Layer-2
The term “Layer-1” refers to the basic main blockchain architecture. Layer-2, on the other hand, is a network that appears at the top of the underlying blockchain. Consider the Lightning Network and Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a layer-1 network, whereas the lightning network is a layer-2 network. Now that we’ve established the fundamental distinction, let’s take a look at the layer-1 and layer-2 solutions that businesses are actively developing. We’ll begin with layer-2 solutions.
Layer 2- Scaling Solutions
To improve efficiency, Layer 2 blockchain works on the native layer. Layer 2 effectively offloads transactions by transferring a portion of Level 1 blockchain’s transactional burden to another system architecture.
The processing load is then handled by the Layer 2 blockchain, which reports to Layer 1 for result finalization. Because this adjacent auxiliary architecture handles the majority of the data processing load, network congestion is reduced: not only is the Layer 1 blockchain less congested, but it is also more scalable.
Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is an example of a Layer 1 blockchain, while the Lightning Network is a Layer 2 scaling solution that at the same time takes the load from Bitcoin and reports to it. As an outcome, the Lighting Network speeds up the Bitcoin blockchain’s processing. Furthermore, the Lightning Network integrates smart contracts into the Level 1 Bitcoin blockchain.
Layer-1 Scaling Solutions
A Layer-1 network is a blockchain in the decentralized ecosystem, whereas a Layer-2 protocol is a 3rd incorporation that could be used in combination with a Layer-1 blockchain. Layer-1 blockchains include Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. Layer-1 scaling solutions improve scalability by supplementing the blockchain protocol’s base layer. A number of methodologies are continuously being built – and implemented – to directly enhance the scalability of blockchain networks.
This is how it works: Layer-1 solutions alter the protocol’s rules directly in order to increase transaction capacity and speed while accommodating more users and data. Layer-1 scaling solutions may include increasing the amount of data in each block or speeding up the rate at which blocks are confirmed in order to enhance complete network throughput.source
What is Polygon?
Polygon is a stack of protocols designed to fix Ethereum’s scalability issues. The Polygon network addresses the network’s challenges by handling transactions on a separate Ethereum-compatible blockchain.
Polygon then returns transactions to the main Ethereum blockchain post-processing. This approach lowers the network load on Ethereum. In doing so, Polygon can speed up transactions and lower transaction costs to less than a cent.
In other words, Polygon, formerly known as Matic network, provides an easy framework for new and existing blockchain projects to build on Ethereum without scalability issues.
Using Polygon, users can interact with any decentralized application (DApp) without ever having to worry about network congestion.source
In average block time, Ethereum ranks first by a huge margin and it is almost 19 times more than its competitors. The MIN block time, in layer 2 and solana was 0 but in Ethereum was 1 and in Polygon it was 2.
In charts below we see the daily average seconds between blocks. In this chart, again Ethereum is the first rank because in average the times between blocks in Ethereum was around 13. The lowest value is for Arbitrum with 0.53 second. Polygon has normal statistics among its competitors
