Introduction

The problem

→ Web3 lacks a good way to launch new blockchains, leading to... → Too few security providers (Ethereum, Solana), resulting in... → Scalability bottlenecks, which force... → Compromised solutions like layered architecture (L2s, rollups)

Current options for the builder are rigid and constraining, forcing a choice between two bad paths:

Option A: Dependent Application

💡 L2s/dApps/Rollups ( Dependent Apps): are technologies built on top of a host protocol like an L1. These technologies are often marketed as decentralized though they are not sovereign and often have centralized components.

• ✅ Low barrier

  • Economic: Host protocol handles capital lockup and security

  • Technical: Host protocol handles Consensus, P2P, and Persistence layers

  • Operation: Inherit the host's Validators

  • Ecosystem: Instantly a part of the host's community

• ⚠️ A sub-optimal product:

  • Economic: Host protocol siphons value

  • Growth-Potential: Success-capped

  • Governance: Dependent on the host protocol

  • Trust: May be censored by non-stakeholders

  • Scalability: Limited by the host protocol

  • Freedom: Trapped in host - escape requires a rebuild

DApps are easy to build but Monolith chains don't scale, centralize security, and diversify through speculation only and lock in dApps.

Option B: Interoperable L1

💡Layer 1 ( L1 ): is an industry term used to describe the traditional blockchain like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Similarly, Layer 0 ( L0 ) is an industry term used to describe an L1 that hosts applications.

• ⚠️ High barrier

  • Economic: Requires significant capital to be locked up to secure the network to avoid hostile takeovers

  • Technical: Requires deep understanding of Consensus, P2P, and Persistence layers to avoid execution failures

  • Operation: Requires diverse, experienced Validators to avoid centralization

  • Ecosystem: Requires interoperability features to avoid isolation

• ✅ The optimal product:

  • Economic: Highest value capture

  • Growth-Potential: Historically best

  • Governance: Sovereign and self-governing

  • Trust: Can't be censored by non-stakeholders

  • Scalability: Scale independently

  • Freedom: Fully independent

And: The cold start problem is a significant challenge for L1s. To avoid takeover, they need high Total Locked Value (TLV), a diverse set of validator operators to ensure decentralization, and strong interconnection to prevent isolation. Beyond that - L1 technology is complex, making it difficult to build and maintain.

The reality

🟢 dApps are easy early on → It lowers technical, economic, and operational barriers 🔴 dApps trapped for life → It limits value capture, growth, and autonomy ⚠️ Achieving independence is expensive → Requiring a ground-up rebuild of the tech

There's no solution that bridges the lifecycle gap in this reality - preventing the technology from being widely adopted by builders.

Want to know more about the problem? Checkout Industry State

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The future

🚀 A layerless future where blockchains can rely on their peers to bootstrap and scale.

Canopy is the first seed in a peer-to-peer security future, where chains recursively spawn new L0s, each receiving and providing security dynamically.

• Chains no longer have to choose – sovereignty exist on a fluid spectrum

• Security becomes an organic network, not a hierarchy

• The barriers to independence are systematically removed

With Canopy, the era of rigid blockchain layers ends. Instead, chains grow like ecosystems - starting as sprouts that depend on their peers for security, then mature into sovereign networks, and seed the next generation.

Canopy's architecture = "layerless" future

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This section

In the 'What is Canopy' section, you'll be taken from 0 → Masters in Canopy, including 'Why Canopy?' and an overview of the core features, tokenomics, and future vision.

Want to get technical right away? Checkout the How does Canopy work? section.