Layer 1, or Layer 1, it's like the Main road where all cars (transactions) travel on a blockchain. It is the base system that processes, validates and saves all information, such as payments, contracts or exchanges. Without this layer, nothing works, because it's where important decisions are made and everything is kept in order.

‍

Layer 1 (L1) is the term used to describe the base layer of a blockchain, that is, the main infrastructure that is responsible for directly manage consensus, security, transaction validation and smart contract execution. This layer defines the fundamental logic of the protocol and its governance architecture, functioning as the platform on which all other scalability solutions and decentralized applications are built.

Representative examples of Layer 1 include Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Avalanche, Cardano, or Polkadot. Each one has its own consensus mechanism (Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, Proof of History, etc.), issuance policies, block structure and way of maintaining the state of the network. Layer 1 is responsible for ensuring that all nodes in the network reach an agreement about what transactions are valid and in what order they should be executed.

Due to inherent capacity and performance limitations (known as the blockchain trilemma: decentralization, security and scalability), many Layer 1 blockchains face problems of congestion, latency and high costs due to intensive use. To solve this, complementary solutions are developed in Layer 2 (such as rollups, state channels or sidechains) that download work from Layer 1 without compromising its basic security.

Layer 1 also acts as settlement layer and trust reference, which means that all operations on other layers (Layer 2, Layer 3) are finally resolved, verified or backed up on L1.

‍

• Limited scalability on many current blockchains
• High transaction costs when the network is congested
• Higher confirmation time versus L2 solutions
• More complex and rigid development, subject to protocol updates
• High competition between L1 blockchains, which fragments the ecosystem

‍