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Layer 2: what is inherited from Ethereum?
Separate settlement dependence from a connection through a bridge.
A Layer 2, or L2, processes transactions outside Ethereum mainnet while deriving security from Ethereum. Rollups are an important example: they publish transaction data to Ethereum and use a mechanism for checking execution results.
Follow the dependency
Ask where transaction data is available, how an incorrect result can be rejected, and how users can withdraw assets back to Ethereum. Settlement means the process by which transaction results become accepted under the underlying chain’s rules. These questions explain the relationship better than a network's name or its transaction speed. Different L2 designs have different proof systems, upgrade controls and operational assumptions.
A bridge can also connect two independent Layer 1 chains. Moving an asset between them does not, by itself, make either chain an Ethereum L2.
Base provides a concrete rollup example. ArcBridge explains the separate question of connecting ArcBlock and Ethereum. Its historical “DID Rollup” terminology should be read in the context of its bridge design; it does not establish that ArcBlock Chain as a whole has Base's settlement architecture.
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Check your understanding
Does a bridge to Ethereum make a chain an L2?
No. A bridge connects systems; an L2 relies on Ethereum for its security architecture.
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- Understand Ethereum execution and settlementStep 7 of 11