What Will Happen to Layer 2 Solutions Like Polygon Once Ethereum Moves to Proof-Of-Stake?

Staked Ethereum seems to be on track to happen as early as mid September, if everything goes right. The community has been non-committal to this date, but it’s all looking positive. With Ethereum transactions becoming cheaper, faster and more energy efficient, now is a good time to explore the future of Layer 2 solutions and what role they stand to play in the new Ethereum ecosystem. In this article we will analyse potential implications of the Ethereum proof-of-stake transition over Layer-2 solutions by understanding how Layer 2 actually works.

Before we jump into it, it should be noted that there is already a consensus among industry experts that not only L2 applications will survive post-merge, but they will actually play an important role in the Ethereum ecosystem. In a recent interview with Cryptoslate, Alan Chiu, CEO of Boba Network, a Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup scaling solution stated that:

“As Ethereum L1 becomes more efficient, L2’s will simply become that much more efficient right alongside, all while maintaining their current added benefits.”

The relationship between Ethereum and L2 solution is that of a symbiotic organism, similar to how Trees and the underground Mycelium network operate. The importance of this symbiotic…