Introduction
As a fast-growing technology, blockchain is becoming increasingly popular—and understanding blockchain infrastructure’s various layers is key. So buckle up and join us on our journey as we unpack these six crucial blockchain layers!
Layer 0: Digital Asset Wallets
You can think of Layer 0, the Digital Asset Wallets, as where it all begins. This is the layer where users interact with their digital assets, like cryptocurrencies. It’s also where users generate their wallets and create private keys that enable them to securely manage and store their assets.
Layer 1: Infrastructure Layer
So let’s start with the bottom layer, Layer 1. This is known as the infrastructure or hardware layer, and its purpose is to provide the physical infrastructure upon which blockchain cryptocurrency transactions take place. This includes the network of computers or nodes that make up the distributed ledger, as well as other hardware components such as specialized processors and routers.
Put simply, without Layer 1 there is no blockchain infrastructure, no polygon blockchain, no bitcoin. That’s why it’s so important to have a strong foundation in place before moving on to more sophisticated layers!
Layer 2: Data Layer
The second layer is the Data Layer, and it facilitates the storage of data related to a blockchain network. On this layer, the data that is stored–such as digital asset wallets’ financial transactions and user information–is distributed across all computers or nodes in the blockchain system. This means that each node has a copy of the data, providing redundancy and making it virtually impossible for anyone to tamper with the data on this layer.
Additionally, because each node has a copy of the same data, no single node can be taken down without taking down all other nodes at the same time. This ensures that the data on this layer will be safe and secure even in an isolated environment where some nodes may be taken offline.
Layer 3: Network Layer
At the network layer, or Layer 3, are the basic elements that make up the blockchain network itself. This layer includes the protocols, consensus mechanisms and rules that govern how users interact with the system. It’s responsible for maintaining a secure and distributed network for transactions. This layer also depends on the other layers of the blockchain infrastructure to function correctly, as each works together to form a complete blockchain cryptocurrency technology stack.
Layer 4: Consensus Layer
What is a Consensus Protocols? This is done through consensus protocols, which are mechanisms for allowing members of a network and the entire blockchain infrastructure to make decisions about how the network behaves. The most well-known consensus protocol is proof-of-work (PoW). When miners compete against each other to solve complex mathematical problems and validate transactions, they are using PoW to reach consensus.
Layer 5: Application and Presentation Layers
The final layer of the blockchain is the application and presentation layer. This layer is responsible for user experience (UX) and interfaces where users can interact with the blockchain network—like polygon blockchain dapps, digital asset wallets, blockchain cryptocurrency, and exchanges. By providing an easy-to-use interface, developers in this layer can make interfacing with a blockchain infrastructure more user friendly.
Moreover, this layer includes services such as the communication interface between users and nodes that facilitate transactions on the blockchain. It’s these applications that allow people to buy, sell trade, or transfer cryptocurrencies using a wallet.
Liminal is among the leading enterprises offering institution-grade web3 blockchain infrastructure, such as a hot wallet crypto platform designed to assist organizations with their digital asset self-custody need.
Liminal’s digital asset custodian platform services such as trezor and ledger hardware wallet are developed with simplicity in mind because the team at Liminal believes that managing digital assets should not be intimidating and complex.
Liminal has built the entire web3 blockchain-based digital asset custodian platform services including a hot wallet and cold storage wallet with a security-first approach – so that you can sleep peacefully without worrying about the security of your digital assets and funds. And you also receive expert customer support from our team – to resolve challenging technical complications.