Understanding EVM blockchain ecosystems

As we discussed in Chapter 2, Ethereum Architecture and Ecosystem, Ethereum’s success in propelling the broad adoption of DeFi protocols and cryptocurrencies has created such a flywheel effect that more and more innovative protocols have been developed out of the Ethereum ecosystem, and, in turn, more and more transactions are coming to the Ethereum network. The busier the network is, the costlier the transaction fee is. The fundamental issues behind such skyrocketing costs are the scalability of the Ethereum network and the scarcity of limited block space.

We discussed scalability challenges in blockchain. You may recall the blockchain scalability trilemma from Chapter 2, Ethereum Architecture and Ecosystem. It is generally deemed unlikely for a decentralized network to comprise all three attributes of scalablity, security, and decentralization. Various blockchain protocol designers have to sacrifice one of them and achieve the other...