I just came across many people asking about the difference between L1 and L2, so I decided to write this to explain it more clearly for everyone.

Simply put: L1 are independent blockchains that run their own systems. Bitcoin, Ethereum, these are L1s — they are built from scratch with the creators' own ideas. So what is L2? L2 are solutions built on top of L1, but they address L1's limitations and help scale transaction capacity. Examples include Optimism, Arbitrum, Mantle — all are L2s running on Ethereum.

There is also L0 — which is the foundational layer that enables connection between different L1s and L2s. Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche fall into this group.

In fact, I see many investors focusing only on Bitcoin or Ethereum, but L2 tokens offer different opportunities. It’s not baseless — what is L2 that has high growth potential? Because they are new solutions, still in early development stages, early participants often gain significant profits.

If you already have Bitcoin or Ethereum, you might consider adding some L2 tokens to your portfolio. You don’t have to stick only to the big ones; sometimes small projects with low market cap can bring surprises.

I’m also monitoring some L2 projects on Gate to see what’s interesting. If anyone is interested, you can explore this topic further — it’s quite worth catching in the current market.