Rollups and L2

Rollups are Ethereum's main scaling strategy. They execute transactions away from Layer 1, compress the results, and publish the data or proofs back to Ethereum for settlement. Users experience this as cheaper, faster activity without leaving Ethereum's security orbit entirely.

The shared idea is batching. Instead of paying Ethereum for every small action separately, a rollup spreads the Layer 1 cost across many users. That is why the marginal cost of a swap or transfer can drop sharply compared with doing the same action on mainnet.

Rollups are not identical to sidechains. Their trust model still points back to Ethereum through data publication, proofs, and canonical bridges. The open question is not whether rollups matter, but which architecture gives the best mix of cost, UX, and verifiable safety for a given application.