Week 2 — Blockchain architectures, Ethereum and interoperability
About 484 wordsAbout 2 min
Core question — why are there many different blockchains, and how do they connect?
Week 1 taught you what a blockchain is, using Ethereum as the example. That leaves an obvious question: if this works, why are there thousands of them, and why do they keep making different choices?
Because there is no single best design — only trade-offs. This week teaches you to see them, which is the skill that lets you evaluate any network you meet from here on.
| Part | Page | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Public, private and consortium chains | 20 min |
| 2 | Comparing blockchains and their trade-offs | 25 min |
| 3 | Why we start with Ethereum and the EVM | 20 min |
| 4 | Transactions, state, gas and RPC | 25 min |
| 5 | L1, L2, sidechains and bridges | 30 min |
| 6 | The trust and risk map | 15 min |
Anchor Mission: Week 2 mission · 100 points
The arc
Part 6 is the shortest page and the one the rest of the Foundation leans on hardest
Give it proper attention.
What this week is not
This week is analytical, not technical. No wallet work and no code — that returns in Week 3.
Depth is deliberately capped. Bridge verification mechanisms, modular architecture, data availability layers and ZK internals are Further Exploration, not Core. You are building a map, not mastering a subfield.
Changelog
57062-docs(foundation): strengthen beginner concept-to-reality progressionona931f-docs(foundation): finalize beginner learning path and handbook UXon80d94-feat(foundation): complete Weeks 3-4 and add the visual layeron2d4b4-docs(curriculum): finalize Week 0-2 Foundation revisiononaed71-Bootstrap Blockchain@NTU Academy Handbookon