Avalanche® features 3 built-in blockchains: Exchange Chain (X-Chain), Platform Chain (P-Chain), and Contract Chain (C-Chain). All 3 blockchains are validated and secured by the Primary Network. The Primary Network is a special Avalanche L1, and all members of all custom Avalanche L1s must also be a member of the Primary Network by staking at least 2,000 AVAX.
Image adapted from the following article.
An Avalanche L1, is a dynamic set of validators working together to achieve consensus on the state of a set of blockchains. Each blockchain is validated by exactly one Avalanche L1. An Avalanche L1 can validate many blockchains. A node may be a member of many Avalanche L1s.
An Avalanche L1 manages its own membership, and it may require that its constituent validators have certain properties. This is very useful, and we explore its ramifications in more depth below.
Avalanche’s L1 architecture makes regulatory compliance management. As mentioned above, an Avalanche L1 may require validators to meet a set of requirements.
Some examples of requirements include:
Validators must be located in a given country
Validators must pass a KYC/AML checks
Validators must hold a certain license
(To be abundantly clear, the above examples are just that: examples. These requirements do not apply to the Avalanche Primary Network.)
You can create an Avalanche L1 where only certain pre-defined validators may join and create a private Avalanche L1 where the contents of the blockchains would be visible only to those validators. This is ideal for organizations interested in keeping their information private.
In a heterogeneous network of blockchains, some validators will not want to validate certain blockchains because they simply have no interest in those blockchains. The Avalanche L1 model allows validators to only concern themselves with blockchains that they care about. This reduces the burden on validators.
Application-Specific Requirements
Different blockchain-based applications may require validators to have certain properties. Suppose there is an application that requires large amounts of RAM or CPU power. An Avalanche L1 could require that validators meet certain hardware requirements so that the application doesn’t suffer from low performance due to slow validators.
NOTE: Avalanche L1s were previously referred to as Subnets.
For any additional questions, please view our other knowledge base articles or contact a support team member via the chat button. Examples are for illustrative purposes only.