Vitalik Buterin Proposes a New Path for Ethereum L2s amid Rising L1 Scaling

Vitalik Buterin, the Ethereum co-founder, has recently spoken on the growing role that L2s play in the Ethereum network. In this respect, Vitalik Buterin has highlighted the alterations when it comes to scaling. In his recent X post, Vitalik mentioned that L2 advancement has progressed relatively more slowly than the expectations at the start. On the other hand, while Ethereum L1 keeps scaling with decreased fees and rising gas limits targeted for 2026, he has proposed an action plan for Ethereum L2 development.

Ethereum Co-Founder Highlights Decreased L2 Growth Amid Consistent L1 Scaling

Vitalik Buterin pointed out that the growing scaling of Ethereum L1 contrasts with the slow L2 development. Particularly, the lower fees as well as the rising gas limits targeted for this year challenge the primary vision for Layer 2s as Ethereum’s required “branded shards.” So, he stressed the need for a new perspective to revolutionize the relationship that Ethereum L1 has with the growing L2 network.

Additionally, Vitalik said that the original idea behind L2s was the massive expansion of Ethereum’s throughput, along with maintaining the base layer’s complete trust and security guarantees. Nonetheless, with L1 scaling significantly and directlyenhancing capacity, the L2 requirement on Ethereum is reportedly diminishing. Even then, he doesn’t consider this evolution a failure. Instead, he venerates the evolution of Ethereum L1 for higher capabilities.

Urging Developers to Revolutionize L2 Value, Innovation, and Security

Vitalik Buterin urged builders to reconsider the L2s’ value beyond scaling $ETH transfers. For this, he suggests offering privacy-focused features, top scaling solutions other than L1 capabilities, and new designs for AI, identity, or social applications. Along with that, he emphasized the maintaining Ethereum interoperability remains critical even in the case of non-financial or non-EVM L2s.

As the Ethereum co-founder puts it, the introduction of a local rollup recompile could redefine the way L2s link with Ethereum. The respective mechanism would allow trustless and secure verification of Layer 2 computations through Ethereum without depending on external governance. Overall, this approach is anticipated to better serve consumers, drive compliant L2 innovation, and improve security.