Why Layer 2s Can Save the Crypto Creator Economy
A network for the people!
Hi, I’m Michael. And this is Crypto Creatives. The best newsletter about the Crypto Creator Economy. If you’re new here, consider subscribing. 2 stellar emails a week.
Picture this. You’re dying to have a piece of authentic NYC cheesecake. You drop the bag of Doritos, shut down the anime, and run to your 2002 Ford Focus.
You drive through the worst traffic of your life. But it’s worth it. You need that piece of cheesecake.
Hours drag on.
You’re just about to cross the bridge into the city. You know your favorite cheesecake shop is right there. So fucking close. You pull onto the bridge when suddenly, someone stops you.
“Sorry sir, due to high traffic, we upped the toll on the bridge.“
OK. What can it possibly be?
He tells you $500.
You roll your eyes back in your head so hard that you can see your own brain. Has it always been so smooth?
This is the problem with using Ethereum right now. The gas fees make it impossible for small transactions. Who in their right mind is going to pay $500 to cross the bridge for a $20 piece of cheesecake?!
The gas fees are often hundreds of dollars. This prices out all but the richest degens among us. The brilliant bastards buying Ethereum when it was $150 or less.
But alas, there is hope for us peasants.
Layer 2s
Layer 2s are amazing. They solve some of the most important issues facing Web3.
Let’s start with Ethereum. It’s capped at 15 transactions per second. Yikes. This makes it extremely expensive to use. And as much as people like to say there’s no real utility, people are using it.
It’s kind of like a bridge. Everyone wants to drive across. But only so many people can cross at one time. To compensate, Ethereum raises the toll price, so to speak.
This prices out peasants who have to sit on the sidelines and watch rich people drive back-and-forth all day.
Layer 2s build more bridges.
Not only are these bridges faster than Ethereum, but they cost a fraction of the gas. This makes it feasible to actually use the network.
Bigger Better Bridges
Do you know what breeds economic growth? Money changing hands. That’s why the Internet was so revolutionary. Anyone could send money to anyone else.
That spawned the creator economy and all the business opportunities we see online today.
But it’s impossible to leave someone a tip if the gas fee costs as much as the tip itself.
This hurts creators the most. It makes customers unwilling to tip or purchase a small item. It’s just not worth it.
But there are plenty of layer 2s that solve this problem. One of the most promising is a project called Polygon. It’s one of the most popular layer 2s and cryptocurrencies as a whole.
The only problem so far has been onboarding. Most people understand how to use Ethereum and MetaMask. But not so much Polygon. It’s actually not that hard. Here’s a little video about it.
Most cryptocurrency exchanges don’t support Polygon or other chains. But that’s changing. Every day, more projects get native support. Making layer 2s a real possibility.
One of them is Crypto.com which offers native support for Polygon. You can buy it right on the site. And send it to your wallet. And start using it.
Ethereum is going to play a big role in the crypto creator economy. But not every transaction is going to take place there.
No one is going to pay $500 for cheesecake.
You can sign up to crypto.com and get started right now.
Feel free to use my referral link. We’ll both get $25. But you don’t have to. The important thing is to start playing with layer 2s today.
Say hi on Twitter if you’re into that kinda thing.