{"id":93909,"date":"2026-02-04T12:10:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=93909"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:15:21","slug":"vitalik-buterin-as-ethereum-scales-the-need-for-l2-diminishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/vitalik-buterin-as-ethereum-scales-the-need-for-l2-diminishes\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitalik Buterin: As Ethereum Scales, the Need for L2 Diminishes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ethereum&#8217;s founder, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/who-is-vitalik-buterin\">Vitalik Buterin<\/a>, has stated that the original concept of second-layer solutions (<a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-layer%e2%80%912-solution-in-blockchain\">L2<\/a>) has become outdated. He proposed a new model for the ecosystem&#8217;s development, shifting the focus from mere scaling to the unique functions of projects.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There have recently been some discussions on the ongoing role of L2s in the Ethereum ecosystem, especially in the face of two facts:<\/p>\n<p>* L2s&#8217; progress to stage 2 (and, secondarily, on interop) has been far slower and more difficult than originally expected<br \/>* L1 itself is scaling,\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VitalikButerin\/status\/2018711006394843585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 3, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>According to Buterin, the perception of L2 as &#8220;branded shards&#8221; is outdated for two reasons. First, the transition of rollups to full decentralization (Stage 2) has proven more complex and slower than anticipated. Second, the main network (L1) is scaling independently: fees are decreasing, and gas limits are set to increase significantly.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Spectrum Instead of a Standard<\/h2>\n<p>Buterin acknowledged that not all projects can or want to meet Ethereum&#8217;s strict security criteria. Some are hindered by the technical limitations of <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-zkevm\">zkEVM<\/a>, while others face regulatory requirements that necessitate retaining control over the network.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of a single standard, he suggested viewing L2 as a spectrum of possibilities. This would include networks fully secured by Ethereum and projects with varying degrees of connection to the mainnet. Users would choose the guarantees they require.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Direction for Developers<\/h2>\n<p>The Ethereum founder recommended that L2 projects avoid duplicating L1 functions and instead seek unique value. Among promising directions, he highlighted:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>privacy;<\/li>\n<li>optimization for specific applications;<\/li>\n<li>design for non-financial sectors (social networks, identification, AI);<\/li>\n<li>ultra-high transaction speed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For those using ETH and other ecosystem assets, Buterin advised reaching at least the first stage of decentralization (Stage 1) and ensuring maximum compatibility with Ethereum.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Native Precompile and Synchrony<\/h2>\n<p>The technical foundation of the new system should be the <span data-descr=\"native rollup precompile\" class=\"old_tooltip\">\u201cnative precompile <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-rollups-and-how-do-they-scale-ethereum\">of rollups<\/a>\u201d<\/span>. This is a built-in function that verifies <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-zero-knowledge-proof\">ZK-proofs<\/a> at the L1 protocol level.<\/p>\n<p>Implementing this tool would provide two key advantages:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Security. <\/strong>The precompile updates alongside Ethereum. If vulnerabilities are discovered, developers will fix them through a mainnet hard fork.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Synchronous composability.<\/strong> Different L2s will be able to interact with each other and with L1 in real-time, eliminating delays and the need for unreliable <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-cross-chain-bridges\">bridges<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Buterin emphasized that in an open ecosystem, the emergence of centralized or less secure projects is inevitable. The community&#8217;s task is to clearly explain to users the guarantees provided by each platform.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, on February 1, Buterin <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/vitalik-buterin-proposes-merging-daos-and-prediction-markets-to-support-creators\">introduced<\/a> a new model for motivating content creators, based on a combination of <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-dao-decentralised-autonomous-organisation\">DAOs<\/a> and prediction market mechanics.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ethereum&#8217;s founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the original L2 concept is outdated. He proposed a new model for ecosystem development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Vitalik Buterin suggests a shift from L2 scaling to unique project functions.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[46,1179,1138,200],"class_list":["post-93909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-ethereum","tag-layer-2-solutions","tag-opinions","tag-vitalik-buterin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"212","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Vitalik Buterin suggests a shift from L2 scaling to unique project functions.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93911,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93909\/revisions\/93911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}