Originally published on: October 13, 2024
Sonic Labs co-founder Andre Cronje recently shared his critique of layer-2 (L2) appchains, highlighting their impracticality for builders. In a thought-provoking post on X dated Oct. 13, Cronje pinpointed the high infrastructure costs, fragmented liquidity, and lack of developer support as major obstacles hindering the widespread adoption of appchains.
Appchains are essentially customized blockchains tailored to the unique requirements of decentralized applications (DApps) or specific functions. However, Cronje raised concerns about the substantial costs associated with deploying and maintaining these appchains, emphasizing how infrastructure expenses like regulatory compliance and oracles can quickly add up.
Cronje mentioned that his team has already spent a staggering $14 million on infrastructure this year alone, underscoring the challenges developers face in diverting their resources away from core applications and users. Despite Cronje’s apprehensions, Hilmar Orth, the founder of Gelato Network, offered a different perspective, emphasizing how rollup-as-a-service providers (RaaS) have made essential infrastructure more accessible to developers.
Orth argued that developers no longer need to start building infrastructure from scratch, as there is ample support available from framework teams and RaaS providers. Disputing Cronje’s concerns about isolation, Orth assured developers that the necessary support for appchains is readily accessible.
In addition to high costs, Cronje also pointed out the issue of liquidity fragmentation within appchains, noting how liquidity is often consolidated onto bridges that are vulnerable to centralization and attacks. Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, presented AggLayer as a potential solution to address liquidity challenges by creating an interoperable network of appchains.
Boiron’s optimistic outlook on liquidity management for appchains through increased fungibility across multiple chains was met with agreement from Orth, who highlighted the advantages of built-in bridges and market makers in rollups.
Despite differing opinions, Cronje, Orth, and Boiron’s ongoing debate on X continues to spark discussions on the viability of L2s as appchains. As the crypto community delves deeper into these issues, it’s clear that finding solutions to high costs and liquidity challenges is crucial for the sustainable growth of appchains in the decentralized ecosystem.
