There very well could be a layer 2. The inventor of Steem, Dan L, had a great vision back in the day. @dan/steemit-s-evil-plan-for-cryptocurrency-world-domination

Think of Bitcoin and Lightning Network. There simpler layer 1 is the more you can scale it. Hive is by far one of the most scaled blockchains in existence, with massive use over several years with the code. it has only gotten more efficient over time. Having a decentralized, robust layer 2 is what apps want, as can be seen from our biggest project Splinterlands is telling us exactly what they need to succeed. Layer 1 can only do so much, layer 2 is really where the hub of action is, and layer 3 from there can always be a possibility.