Smart contract deployment boosts with tailored layer 2 blockchain choices
Towards an Intelligent Decision Engine for Smart Contract Deployment
Software EngineeringArtificial IntelligenceCryptography and Security
Summary
Picking the best second-layer blockchain for running smart contracts can be tricky because it depends on things like cost, speed, and security. The authors collected data from popular blockchains and types of smart contracts to create a way to score and compare them based on what users care about most. Their method helps show which blockchain works best for different contract uses and user needs. This makes it easier to decide where to deploy smart contracts wisely.
What this means in practice
- •For blockchain developers: Select the most suitable layer 2 blockchain for smart contract deployment given specific cost and performance preferences.
- •For blockchain infrastructure teams: Optimize deployment strategies by assessing stability and popularity metrics across major layer 2 networks.
Authors
Oana-Otilia Captarencu, Emanuel Onica, Andrei Arusoaie
Abstract
Layer 2 (L2) blockchain solutions emerged in recent years, predominantly in the Ethereum ecosystem, as a viable option for scaling a main blockchain network (L1). However, the selection of a L2 solution for deploying smart contracts backing blockchain applications is a decision that depends on many factors, such as costs, efficiency, popularity, and stability. We propose here a systematic methodology to help with this decision making process by using a set of relevant metrics and introducing user-defined profiles that capture different priorities among these metrics. We collect the major categories of smart contracts from a community-maintained data source, and we gather transactions for a six months period from three major L2 solutions: Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base. For each contract category and each blockchain, we compute a set of metrics and scores tailored to each user profile. By applying our methodology, we identify a clear bias in the classification, showing which L2 solutions are better suited for particular application types and user profiles.