Layer by Layer: Avalanche Goes Multi-chain with Subnet Expansion Despite C-Chain Dominance

The Layer 1 (L1) landscape has undergone significant change in recent years alongside evolving market demands and increasing adoption of rollup-centric scaling solutions. One major example is Arbitrum, an optimistic rollup that recently ascended to the number two spot behind Ethereum in terms of monthly decentralized exchange (DEX) volume. Layer 2s (L2s) are essentially a subset of a broader approach to scale blockchains using a modular architecture, separating execution from settlement, consensus, and data availability as individual tasks to be optimized. 

L1s with a monolithic architecture, such as Solana and Sui, represent an alternative approach, wherein these four tasks, or layers, are all performed simultaneously on a single chain. Somewhere in between these approaches lies the multi-chain monolithic architecture, as seen in the Cosmos IBC network, which largely consists of sovereign chains linked by a shared cross-chain communication protocol. Over the past year, the Avalanche network has been gradually developing with a similar multi-chain monolithic architecture in mind, wherein subnets can be likened to Cosmos app-chains, each with their own customizable network parameters and security assumptions.