THE CATALYTIC ADVANTAGE OF SIDE-CHAINS TO THE BLOCKCHAIN
In this article, I’ll be giving a simplified yet detailed explanation of the impact of side chains on the blockchain.
Let's hop right in…
Let’s say you are awarded a contract to construct a home.
You’ll need to prepare the mortar, erect aluminum windows, carry out plumbing work, construct scaffolding, and do other tasks.
This cannot be completed by only your crew of masons.
Attempting to complete it all at once will slow down operations and cause congestion.
Then you employ a plumbing firm, an aluminum company, etc, to assist with the construction.
They will be working on the construction site with your team, carrying out their various tasks with a single goal in mind, “a house”.
In terms of cryptocurrencies
A sidechain is just a different blockchain that processes transactions by being linked to the main blockchain in a two-way peg.
By taking on some of the necessary labor, sidechains reduce the burden on the primary blockchain. (Exactly like the building project where some of the work is handled by the plumbing and aluminum companies.)
Mainstream/main blockchains are usually slow; speeding them up could result in security issues.
A sidechain is the answer to this problem, however, they are more centralized than the main blockchain.
They make a lot more transactions possible so the network can grow.
Example:
The connection between the side chain of Rootstock and the main chain of Bitcoin, as well as the connection between Ethereum and Polygon, serve as common examples of this.
Merge mining
Term merge mining entails that tokens can be obtained by miners by approving transactions on both the sidechain and the blockchain.
For validating transactions on both the side chain and the main chain, they can also receive incentives.
Learn more about sidechains here.
Check out my previous article on THE LONG-TERM EFFECT OF WEB3.0 & AI ON OUR DAILY LIVES.
