Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has stated in a new article that the ecosystem will primarily scale through L2 solutions.
Scaling Ethereum L1 and L2s in 2025 and beyondhttps://t.co/T36dnaEYXj
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 24, 2025
According to him, the main obstacles in this direction are:
- insufficient space for BLOB objects, which “meets the needs of existing use cases but is clearly insufficient for tomorrow’s needs”;
- the heterogeneity of L2s, which are separate networks with different standards and user experiences.
Regarding the first point, Buterin noted that after the implementation of EIP-4844 during the Dencun hard fork, one slot can contain three data arrays. This provides a throughput of ~210 TPS.
“With the planned March release of [the update] Pectra, we expect to double this number to six BLOB objects per slot,” he continued.
The figure will increase another two to three times after the implementation of the PeerDAS protocol, which will be the main goal of the next upgrade — Fusaka. In the near future, already developed solutions will allow reaching 128 arrays per slot. Buterin reminded that Ethereum’s long-term goal is a throughput of 100,000 TPS.
To accelerate this process, he proposed several possible steps, including shifting research priorities in favor of BLOB objects.
Regarding the enhancement of L2 network compatibility, Buterin noted that a few months ago “a fairly clear roadmap emerged on how to achieve this.” It includes:
- unified addresses;
- standardized cross-chain bridges and messaging protocols;
- faster deposit and withdrawal times;
- synchronous reading of L1 data from L2;
- joint sequencing and several other long-term tasks.
“While these standards are being implemented, L2s still have many opportunities to gain different options from each other: experimenting with different virtual machines, sequencing models, trade-offs in scale and security, or other parameters,” Buterin added.
He also highlighted the ETH economy and proposed establishing the cryptocurrency of the base network as the main asset of the entire ecosystem (L1+L2).
In Buterin’s view, it is necessary to follow a strategy of using all possible sources of ether’s value as a “triple-point asset.” This means the cryptocurrency acts as a primary means, a consumed product, and a savings tool.
Among the key points of the strategy, he noted:
- encouraging L2 projects with a share of fees for supporting the cryptocurrency;
- incentivizing rollups as an opportunity for L1 to receive part of the revenue from MEV;
- increasing the number of BLOB objects with a minimum price set for them.
In January, Polynomial co-founder Gautam Santhosh warned of the risk of L2 networks reaching the scaling limit of the main blockchain in the coming months.