The best resources on Ethereum scaling

Ethereum scaling resources

The surging popularity of the Ethereum blockchain has come at a cost: the network fees (‘gas’) can be prohibitively expensive for many people. Luckily though, Ethereum is ready to scale. You can already enjoy cheap and fast transactions thanks to a variety of emerging scaling solutions. And these will become even easier to use when we launch our Layer 2 wallet.

Here's our favourite guides to Ethereum scaling, with a particular focus on Layer 2 and zkRollups. We've included a mix of formats and expertise levels. Let us know what we've missed @argenthq.

Beginner

We start with video explainers. The first is by The Defiant explaining Layer 1 and Layer 2.

Next up we have Finematics on the different types of Layer 2.  

If you want a written alternative, we've included a Reddit thread from r/ethereum where the original poster asks about Layer 2. This thread also acts as a good transition for more advanced resources. 

Advanced

We start with an article by the Matter Labs team comparing Layer 2 scaling solutions. This article evaluates scaling solutions using 4 categories: security, performance/ economics, usability, and others. Using these four categories shows the strengths and weaknesses of each solution and where they may get used. 

Credit: Matter Labs.

A rollup-centric Ethereum roadmap by Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, is an excellent resource on why rollups will be so important to Ethereum's future.

He expands on this with An Incomplete Guide to Rollups. Vitalik explains the differences between various L2s, their relative strengths and weaknesses, why rollups are so crucial, and what their remaining challenges are. You can also hear him discuss this piece on the Bankless Podcast. 

For more audio and video, check out The Defiant comparing three popular scaling projects.

And while we've already included several pieces by him, check out Vitalik on the Lex Fridman podcast. The section on Ethereum scaling starts about an hour in.

Last, but certainly not least, there's Polynya's Rollups, data availability layers & modular blockchains: introductory meta post. It's a roundup of Polynya's comprehensive writing on rollups and their advantages over other approaches.

Argent and Layer 2

We will be launching our Layer 2 wallet soon, which will use zkSync as our Layer 2 solution. To understand why you, can read our blog post.