Hi everyone. How are you? Greetings from the PussFi 🐈 community once more on my blog.

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• Introduction

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The Ethereum's Scaling Issues

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Ethereum has long been the most famous smart contract platform in Web3. It powers thousands of decentralised applications and has one of the most active cryptocurrency developer communities. Despite its popularity, Ethereum still faces a significant limitation: scalability issues.

Ethereum gas fees can rise at peak network usage, will might likely cost about $20 or more for ordinary transactions, The network can only handle approximately 15 transactions per second (TPS), which is not enough for the widespread adoption it has gotten.

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Although we have Ethereum 2.0, which improved energy efficiency through proof-of-stake, it did not directly solve the scaling issue. Sharding remains a huge setback, and this issue presents a difficult question: What if the Ethereum Network never truly scales?

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Layer 2 Solutions: The Actual Heroes of Ethereum’s Future

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Enter Layer 2 (L2) solutions, which are Ethereum-based protocols that manage transactions off-chain before settling them on Ethereum, these rollup and scaling networks are already performing the heavy lifting on the chain.

Arbitrum: One of the most popular optimistic rollups is arbitrum, famous for its low fees and user-friendly interface. Major DeFi protocols have previously been implemented on the chain.

Optimism: Another major optimistic rollup focuses on growing Ethereum while simultaneously supporting public goods through a retroactive mechanism.

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zkSync: A zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup that uses cryptographic proofs to speed and secure transaction batching. The zkSync Era has gained popularity because of its low gas and instant transactions.

These L2S reduce transaction fees, improve scalability, and allow for a more seamless user experience, all while ensuring Ethereum's security on Layer 1.

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Could Ethereum be Replaced? Or just reinvented?

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The idea that Ethereum may be replaced is not impossible. Competing chains like Solana, Avalanche, and Near provide high TPS with low fees right out of the box. However, they lack Ethereum's decentralisation and developer network.

If Ethereum fails to scale effectively, or if its L2 ecosystem becomes too confusing for consumers, it risks losing users and developers to simpler, faster platforms. However, Ethereum has one advantage: modular flexibility. The network is turning into a settlement layer, with L2S handling execution. This layered design could be Ethereum's approach to scaling while maintaining decentralisation.

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Conclusion

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If Ethereum can not scale natively on its network, it may serve as a template for a modular blockchain future. L2S such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and zkSync show that scaling may be achieved without leaving Ethereum.

Still, the network must evolve to remain competitive, the competition is more than just TPS; it is also about usability, decentralisation, and trust. Ethereum's future success or failure will be determined by how well it adopts its layered ecosystem.