The Advantages and Disadvantages of Off-Chain to On-Chain Scaling

The difficult thing about the cryptographic and economic systems behind blockchains is that there is an intricate balance within the ecosystem that is difficult to maintain at larger scales.

Blockchain's growing pains have divided cryptocurrency enthusiasts the world over, with two main factions forming: those who advocate upgrading the blockchain itself, also referred to as on-chain scaling; and those who push for off-chain solutions.

For public blockchains, deciding protocol changes can drag on for years as demonstrated by the years' long scaling debate for Bitcoin.

Although building off-chain solutions enables vast possibilities for blockchain applications, limitations to a blockchain will still be met at some point as the network gains massive, global traction.

Contrary to what some might think, blockchain applications do not need to fully operate on the blockchain.

With blockchains complex processes and transactions do not need to be conducted on-chain in their entirety.

The system then only needs to sync relevant information with the blockchain once the transaction is done, leaving the blockchain free to process other transactions in the network for the most part.

One particular project called Loom Network is working on enabling heavy applications like games on the blockchain.

While protocol decisions can take years to arrive at, many issues blockchains face require immediate attention and solutions.

Off-chain solutions enable the deployment of functionalities without having to disrupt the entire blockchain - and without having to wait for any upgrades to the blockchain.