The co-founder of Ethereum (ETH) – Vitalik Buterin – recently talked about the dispute on whether development should focus on first- or second-layer functionalities in blockchains. He also talked about the selloffs that come with it and gave his opinion on what he thinks should be done.

First-Layer and Second-Layer Solutions

The co-founder started by explaining what first-layer and second-layer solutions are. He said that first-layer solutions are those solutions that are integrated into the layer of the blockchain itself, while second-layer solutions are built on top of the blockchain without altering the regulations of the blockchain.

An example of a first-layer solution is the activation of Segregated Witness on the blockchain of Bitcoin (BTC). An example of a second-layer solution is the Lightning Network – a payment channels system designed on the blockchain of Bitcoin (BTC).

He added that this difference has mostly been seen in arguments regarding the scalability of blockchains, in situations such as block size increases of sharding as first-layer solutions and Plasma or payment channels on the side of the second layer.

Buterin’s Statement towards the Advancement of Blockchain

Regarding the advancement of blockchains, Vitalik Buterin said: “He believes that as the maturity of blockchains increases, first-layer will inevitably stabilize, and second-layer will take on more encumbrance of ongoing change and innovations.” Buterin said the reason why he said so is that first-layer solutions need changes in the protocol, and this results to the governance of the blockchain.

Nevertheless, he said that the first-layer solution should be able to take care of the data availability concerns that second-layer solutions require.

Ethereum (ETH) Price Today – ETH / USD

Name Price 24H % $341.34 -0.05%

At the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $285 after a decrease of about three percent over the past twenty-four hours. The digital currency currently boasts of a market cap of $29.03 billion and its trading volume over the past twenty-four hours is $1.47 billion.