Third-level networks are unnecessary for scaling Ethereum and pose a threat to the security of the ecosystem’s main blockchain, according to Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron.
I’ll say the quiet part out loud: L3s exist only to take value away from Ethereum and onto the L2s on which the L3s are built.
*You do not need L3s to scale*
And this is why Polygon Labs does not work on L3s.
— Marc Boiron (@0xMarcB) March 31, 2024
“I’ll say the quiet part out loud: L3s exist only to take value away from Ethereum and onto the L2s on which they are built,” he wrote, using the internet meme the quiet part out loud.
The phrase originated from a statement by Krusty the Clown in the 1995 season of “The Simpsons” and refers to the inadvertent disclosure of information not intended for public consumption.
Boiron added that there is no need for L3s to scale Ethereum, which is why Polygon Labs does not work on such solutions. However, he noted that other teams are not hindered from doing so, including using the Polygon SDK.
One commentator noted that the L2 project was the first and successful in many aspects of expanding Ethereum’s capabilities. For this reason, they considered it logical to question whether participation in third-level networks should be halted.
The head of Polygon Labs agreed that the company was a pioneer in using zero-knowledge proof technologies (Polygon zkEVM) and parallelization of the EVM (Polygon PoS). The team is currently working on a privacy solution (Polygon Miden), he added.
Because our goal is to scale Ethereum so we were early:
— To scale Ethereum when nobody else did it (Polygon PoS)
— To scale Ethereum when the right tech was ready, being zk tech (Polygon zkEVM)
— To scale Ethereum via parallelization of the EVM (Polygon PoS)
— To scale Ethereum…— Marc Boiron (@0xMarcB) March 31, 2024
“However, our goal is to scale Ethereum […]. L3s do not align with this mission,” Boiron emphasized.
I agree that L2s are Ethereum. I disagree that L2 value is Ethereum value. Just take this to the extreme. If all L3s settled to one L2, then Ethereum would capture basically no value and, thus, Ethereum security would be at risk.
— Marc Boiron (@0xMarcB) March 31, 2024
Regarding objections about the lack of competition between the main blockchain and second-level networks, the head of Polygon responded:
“I agree that L2s are Ethereum, but I do not think their value is identical. Just take this to the extreme. If all L3s settled transactions only on one L2, then the Ethereum blockchain would have no value, and its security would be at risk.”
Due to the decline in fee volumes, Ethereum validators would be disincentivized to protect the network, he clarified.
Vitalik Buterin Omits L3 Networks in Post-Dencun Blockchain Scaling Plans
The discussion regarding the value of third-level networks on X began a day before Boiron’s statements. Developer Potuz, in response to a related question, listed several advantages of such solutions:
- low cost of native bridging and calculations due to using L2 as a base level;
- custom gas token;
- specialized state transition function.
The expert acknowledged that the latter could also be implemented at the second level.
— low cost of native bridging (from L2 rather than L1)
— low cost of challenge game and or proving on chain (by executing the game in L2 instead of L1)
— custom gas token
— specialized state transition function, etc
The latter can be done on L2 but are easier to implement on L3— Potuz (@potuz_eth) March 31, 2024
CEO of Helus Labs Mert Mumtaz expressed a largely similar opinion to Boiron:
“Thus, L3s are essentially centralized servers settling on other centralized servers (L2), controlled by multisigs.
In other words, we just recreated Web2, but with higher fees, more scams, and worse UX? Yay crypto!”
So L3s are basically centralized servers settling on other centralized servers (L2s) — controlled by multisigs
In other words, we just recreated web2 but with higher fees, more scams, and worse UX?
Yay crypto!
— mert | helius.dev (@0xMert_) March 31, 2024
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, in an article published on March 28, explored scaling paths for the blockchain following the successful implementation of the Dencun upgrade. All the main directions were related to expanding the capabilities of L2 networks, into which the protocol has effectively transformed.
In September 2022, he suggested that L3s are not directly intended for scaling but rather would address some “customized functions” for L2.
In February, Buterin expressed concern about the complexity of second-level solutions and called for their simplification.