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Sonic Labs co-founder Andre Cronje voiced concerns over the high costs and limited support for Layer-2 appchains, which are personalized blockchains for specific apps or tasks. Cronje’s team has already spent $14 million this year on undertaking these complex projects. However, Gelato Network founder Hilmar Orth countered, saying that developing appchains has become easier due to tools like rollups-as-a-service providers (RaaS). Cronje also mentioned issues about money management in appchains, to which Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron proposed the AggLayer solution.

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Andre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic Labs, is not a fan of Layer-2 appchains. He says they’re not easy for folks who want to build things. On October 13th, he voiced his worries about high costs, limited cash flow and not enough help for developers. He thinks these issues are stopping appchains from really catching on.

Appchains are like personalized blockchains made for specific apps or tasks.

One of his biggest gripes was about the cost. Keeping appchains up and running costs a lot. Costs can quickly build up when you include things like making sure everything’s legal and sourcing information. His team already spent $14 million this year on these things. He believes these costs distract developers from doing their real work.

Hilmar Orth, founder of Gelato Network, didn’t agree. He reckons that the stuff needed to make appchains work is now easier to get your hands on. Thanks to things like rollup-as-a-service providers (RaaS), developers don’t need to build everything from scratch. He also countered Andre’s complaint about isolation, saying there’s plenty of support out there for appchains.

Cronje also talked about his worries over liquidity in appchains. He said that the cash is forced onto bridges, which are easy to attack. Marc Boiron, the big boss at Polygon Labs, suggested a solution. He introduced the AggLayer, which he said could solve a lot of these money issues. It would connect different appchains together, making money management easier.

Cronje doesn’t think appchains are very social. He said that they don’t have a big user community, which he thinks is needed for them to do well. Boiron disagreed, saying there’s a good community already. Lots of people are contributing and helping it grow. Hilmar didn’t entirely agree with either of them. He pointed out that developers are in competition for users, not friends.

The debate between Cronje, Orth and Boiron is still going on. It’s making people talk a lot about Layer-2 appchains.

Source: Cointelegraph