Buterin: Reframe L2s — Not All Layer‑2s Truly Scale Ethereum
Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin says the original Layer‑2 (L2) scaling thesis needs reframing. He highlights two shifts: slow progress toward fully decentralized, stage‑two rollups and deeper interoperability; and Ethereum L1’s own scaling, which has pushed mainnet fees lower and is expected to raise gas limits through 2026. Buterin argues that true L2 scaling must fully inherit Ethereum’s security, censorship resistance and finality — and that systems relying on multisig bridges or discretionary control should not be presented as ‘scaling Ethereum’. He proposes treating L2s as a spectrum: some rollups will be tightly secured to L1 (stage‑two), while others will intentionally remain stage‑one or adopt weaker trust assumptions for regulatory or product reasons. Buterin urges L2 teams to prioritize distinct value propositions beyond raw capacity — e.g., non‑EVM/ privacy VMs, app‑specific efficiency, ultra‑high throughput, ultra‑low‑latency sequencing, social/identity use cases, and integrated oracles/dispute resolution. He stresses any L2 handling ETH or ETH‑denominated assets should at least meet stage‑one guarantees and favor interoperability. Finally, Buterin signals growing support for a native rollup precompile on L1 to verify ZK‑EVM proofs. Such a precompile would let rollups verify ZK proofs natively on Ethereum, enable trustless interoperability, improve composability (synchronous composability) and clarify guarantees between strong and weaker L2 designs.
Neutral
This guidance is structurally important for Ethereum but does not directly or immediately alter ETH’s supply or demand dynamics in a clear bullish or bearish way. Buterin’s call to reframe L2s clarifies market classification and sets technical expectations: it may boost confidence in genuinely secured rollups (positive for long‑term ETH utility) while reducing marketing-driven hype around weaker L2s that claim to ‘scale Ethereum’ without inheriting its security. The short‑term price impact on ETH is likely muted because the announcement is conceptual and developer‑focused rather than a protocol change that immediately affects issuance, staking, or transaction volume. Over the medium to long term, if a native rollup precompile and wider adoption of true stage‑two ZK‑EVM rollups materialize, that could increase ETH utility and on‑chain activity, which is bullish. Conversely, regulatory or product shifts that push assets onto permissioned, weaker L2s could fragment liquidity and dampen composability, which is mildly bearish. Balancing these opposing forces, the net immediate market reaction should be neutral, with potential bullish tails if developer progress on native verification and stage‑two rollups accelerates.