What is a Sidechain? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 264 - by cryptohunt.it

What is a Sidechain?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Ever wondered why there are blockchains like Polygon, that magically work on top of larger ones like Ethereum? Welcome to the world of Sidechains, an important new concept you should know about. Let's break it down together!

Imagine you are going on vacation, and you are asking your best friend to water the plants. You trust her 100% - nothing will happen to your plants when she is in charge.

The problem though is: She lives far away, and needs to take the bus to your house. That's slow, and costs a lot of effort each time.

So she does what any smart friend would do: She asks one of HER best friends, who she also trusts 100%. And that friend happens to live much closer to you and gets the job done. Beautifully, in fact, because when you return, the plants look amazing!

That trusted friend of yours who lives far away is one of the larger, established blockchains like Bitcoin or Ethereum: It works well, but it's incredibly slow to use.

The second friend who lives closer is a Sidechain like Polygon: It is much faster and more modern, and gets the job done. Yet, it communicates with the main blockchain to let it know when the work is done, giving us the best of both worlds: The ability to use those older, bigger chains, while taking advantage of the faster, cheaper, and more modern Sidechain technology.

And now you know what a Sidechain is, and how it complements Ethereum, Bitcoin, and co. In fact, next time someone says that Ethereum is slow and expensive, you can tell them what you’ve just learned: That Sidechains can already solve these problems by working in tandem.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.