Bitcoin’s genesis in 2009 will probably go down in history as one of the most notable technological events of all time. Demonstrating the first real use case for the immutable, transparent and tamper-proof ledgers — i.e., blockchain — it established the cornerstone for developing the crypto and other blockchain-based industries.
Today, just over a decade later, these industries are thriving. The total crypto market capitalization hit an all-time high of $3 trillion at its peak in November 2021. There are already more than 300 million crypto users worldwide, while forecasts suggest the figure may cross 1 billion by December 2022. Although phenomenal, this journey has merely begun.
Several factors have contributed to the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry’s success so far. But above all, it’s due to certain key features of the underlying technology: decentralization, trustlessness and data security, to name a few. Leading blockchain networks like Bitcoin are pretty robust as such thanks to their proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Globally distributed miners secure these networks by providing “hashing” or computational power. Similarly, in the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus that Ethereum plans to adopt soon, validators secure the network by locking up or “staking” digital assets.
Related: The truth behind the misconceptions holding liquid staking back
However, the number of miners or validators matters greatly in PoW and PoS, respectively — more miners or validators means greater security. Thus, only the bigger, more established blockchains can benefit optimally from conventional consensus mechanisms. On the other hand, emerging blockchains often lack the resources to secure their networks fully, no matter their innovative potential.
Bolstering interchain security frameworks is one way of solving this rather pertinent problem. Moreover, with innovations like liquid staking, bigger PoS blockchains can help secure the emerging ones, ultimately facilitating a safer and stabler industry overall.
Interchain security matters for blockchains big and small
One might wonder why bigger blockchains would even care to share validators with the smaller ones. Isn’t it about meritocratic competition, after all? Of course, it is, but that doesn’t necessarily mean underplaying the role of interoperability or cross-chain mechanisms. Moreover, if emerging but innovative blockchains thrive, it’ll benefit them and the industry as a whole. And…
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