{"id":789720,"date":"2026-02-04 11:30:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:30:31Z","title":"Ethereum\u2019s L2 Scaling Story Gets a Rewrite From Vitalik Buterin","slug":"ethereums-l2-scaling-story-gets-a-rewrite-from-vitalik-buterin","author":{"id":"6","name":"Jamie Redman","slug":"jamieredman","info":"Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial technology journalist based in Massachusetts. He has covered bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets since 2011, focusing on bitcoin, onchain data, open-source protocols, and decentralized applications. Redman has been writing professionally since 2010 and has contributed more than 13,900 articles to Bitcoin.com News since July 2015.\r\n\r\nHis work has also appeared in Cointelegraph, Let's Talk Bitcoin, Bitcoinist, and Coingecko, and has been cited and featured in outlets including Motherboard Vice. He holds a Liberal Arts degree from Quincy College with an emphasis on writing and art.\r\n\r\nConnect with him on X and LinkedIn for more of his reporting and analysis.\r\n\r\nDisclosure: The author holds less than $500 in cryptocurrency assets.","avatar":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/jamie.png","social_links":[{"name":"linkedin","link":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jamie-redman-4688a7a9\/"},{"name":"mail-1","link":"jamieredman@bitcoin.com"},{"name":"twitter","link":"http:\/\/twitter.com\/jamieCrypto"},{"name":"muckrack","link":"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/jamie-redman"}]},"thumbnail":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vbnnbvbty-150x150.png","nano":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vbnnbvbty.png","micro":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vbnnbvbty.png","small":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vbnnbvbty-190x107.png","medium":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vbnnbvbty-380x214.png","big":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vbnnbvbty-760x428.png","large":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vbnnbvbty.png","featured_image":"https:\/\/static.news.bitcoin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vbnnbvbty.png"},"content":"

Vitalik Buterin is openly challenging long-held assumptions about Ethereum\u2019s layer-two ( L2<\/a>) strategy, arguing that the original vision for L2s<\/a> no longer fits a network where the base layer itself is scaling rapidly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vitalik Buterin Calls for Specialized Appchains Over Generic L2s<\/a><\/h2>\n

In a recent X post, Vitalik Buterin argued<\/a> that two developments have quietly undermined the rollup-centric roadmap: slower-than-expected progress toward fully trustless stage-2 rollups and Ethereum<\/a>\u2019s own accelerating layer-one (L1) scaling, with low fees and sharply higher gas<\/a> limits projected into 2026.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Buterin<\/a>\u2019s core point is blunt. L2s<\/a> were once envisioned as \u201cbranded shards\u201d of Ethereum, inheriting its full security guarantees while offloading execution. That framing, he said, no longer holds. Ethereum\u2019s L1 is scaling directly, while many L2s<\/a> are unwilling\u2014or unable\u2014to meet the security and decentralization standards that vision implied.<\/p>\n

\"Ethereum\u2019s<\/p>\n

The post suggests that if an L2<\/a> never intends to move beyond stage 1, then it\u2019s effectively just another chain with a bridge. While this may be rational for regulatory or business reasons, it should be described honestly. If that\u2019s the case, then L2s<\/a> are not scaling Ethereum in the strict sense originally promised.<\/p>\n

\"Ethereum\u2019s<\/p>\n

Rather than discarding L2s<\/a> entirely, Buterin laid out a narrower and more demanding role. Future L2s<\/a>, he suggested, should focus on clear value-adds beyond raw scaling\u2014such as privacy-focused virtual machines, ultra-low-latency execution for gaming or high-frequency trading, non-financial applications like identity or social platforms, or designs that push throughput far beyond what even an expanded L1 can handle.<\/p>\n

The timing of the X post fueled debate after Buterin shared it on X, prompting sharp reactions from Ethereum developers and critics alike. Many approved<\/a> of the message. Over the years many ETH<\/a> devs have argued that gaming and high-frequency trading never belonged on L1s in the first place, and that application-specific chains make far more sense than one-size-fits-all rollups. Buterin\u2019s post arrives just as Citrea has gone live, a development that could cast a chill over the latest Bitcoin<\/a> scaling push and other efforts that rely on Ethereum.<\/p>\n

\"Ethereum\u2019s<\/p>\n

Crypto<\/a> journalist and podcaster Laura Shin<\/a> weighed in on the exchange, noting that Buterin\u2019s remarks echoed criticisms that have circulated for years. Shin said she wasn\u2019t criticizing the position itself, but was struck by how long parts of the Ethereum community resisted acknowledging those trade-offs. \u201cI\u2019m just amazed that he said what a lot of critics have been saying for a while, and that for a long time some ETH<\/a> people refused to acknowledge,\u201d Shin wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beyond philosophy, Buterin\u2019s post also revisited technical proposals aimed at tighter Ethereum- L2<\/a> integration. He highlighted the idea of a native rollup precompile\u2014a built-in mechanism for verifying zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine<\/a> proofs directly on L1. Such a feature, he argued, could enable safer interoperability and synchronous composability without relying on security councils or bespoke governance layers.<\/p>\n

That vision connects to a separate research post<\/a> Buterin published earlier this month on combining based rollups with sequenced rollups. The design attempts to balance low-latency transaction ordering with the ability to compose L1 and L2<\/a> actions atomically\u2014an elusive goal in today\u2019s fragmented rollup environment.<\/p>\n

Also read:<\/strong> Bed Bath & Beyond to Acquire Tokens.com to Launch Tokenized Real\u2011estate Platform<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Still, Buterin acknowledged the trade-offs. Some designs require L2s<\/a> to revert when L1 reorgs, while others sacrifice permissionlessness unless forced-inclusion mechanisms are added. In a permissionless ecosystem, he argued, imperfect designs are inevitable; the priority is clarity about guarantees and risks.<\/p>\n

The broader takeaway is less about abandoning L2s<\/a> and more about narrowing their mandate. Ethereum, in Buterin\u2019s telling, no longer needs L2s<\/a> to carry the scaling narrative. Instead, L2s<\/a> must justify themselves on specialization, not branding.<\/p>\n

As Ethereum\u2019s base layer grows cheaper and faster, the question facing builders is no longer how to extend L1\u2014but what genuinely new capabilities they can add without pretending to be something they are not.<\/p>\n

FAQ \u2753<\/h2>\n