A summary on consumer blockchains

The author proposes describing blockchains to the public through four consumer-facing properties: fast, cheap, easy and safe, rather than abstract technical specifications. Faster chains are described as those with confirmation times of about 2 or 3 seconds, compared with 15 seconds or more for other systems, while BFT-like chains with timeouts offer instant finality but halt when enough nodes fail to respond. The text states that blockchains with more nodes suffer less from transaction censorship, and that Layer 2s can make transactions cheaper but have fewer nodes. It also says meta-transactions could enable seed-less wallets and gas-less transactions, making blockchains easier to use.