- Vitalik Buterin has pressured Ethereum Layer 2 chains to accelerate decentralization efforts.
- The firm stance comes amid debates over Layer 2 alignment.
- The Ethereum co-founder set a “reasonable” benchmark for projects to meet.
In pursuit of scaling, Ethereum has become increasingly rollup-centric in recent years, offloading a lot of computation to Layer 2 protocols to handle more volume at lower cost. By L2Beat definition, these Layer 2 chains should scale the Layer 1 “in a trust minimized way.” In reality, however, most Layer 2 chains have remained largely dependent on trusted intermediaries as developers work to get the technology right.
Recently, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has put pressure on rollups to move past this stage towards cryptographic security.
“Stage 1 or Bust”
Vitalik Buterin has pressured Ethereum Layer 2 chains to accelerate decentralization efforts. In an X post on Thursday, September 12, the Ethereum co-founder asserted he would no longer publicly discuss Layer 2 chains that have not achieved stage 1 decentralization status starting next year. He stressed that his relationship with these projects would not sway him.
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“It doesn’t matter if I invested, or if you’re my friend; stage 1 or bust,” he asserted.
According to the Ethereum co-founder, it was high time Layer 2 chains moved from being “glorified multisigs,” referring to projects secured by a few trusted parties. “The era of cryptographic trust is upon us,” he quipped.
Vitalik’s statements come amid debates over the Ethereum alignment of existing Layer 2 chains. Many observers have poked holes at the massive profits extracted by centralized entities with minimal inflows to Ethereum.
This is, however, not the first time the Ethereum co-founder has expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of Layer 2 chain decentralization. In a March 2024 blog post following the Dencun upgrade , he called for stricter standards on what is classified as a Layer 2.
"By the end of the year, I think our standards should increase and we should only treat a project as a rollup if it has actually reached at least stage 1," he wrote.What, then, does it mean to be a stage 1 rollup?
What Stage 1 Entails
The main requirement for a Layer 2 chain to become a Stage 1 rollup is to implement fraud proofs for Optimistic rollups or validity proofs for ZK rollups , as outlined by Vitalik in a November 2022 blog post . These proofs are cryptographic proofs that allow network participants to verify that transaction data is correct. They unlock trustless withdrawals by allowing network participants to secure the network instead of a third party.
In Stage 1, Vitalik maintains that the network can still have some training wheels as a “security council” built on a multi-sig system to override the proof system when there is a bug and an upgrade mechanism with a “mandatory delayed activation.”
In Thursday’s post, the Ethereum co-founder stressed that the security council must require 75% of signatures to override the proof system with more than 26% of the council members from outside the development team. He described the set benchmark as a “very reasonable moderate milestone.”
According to L2Beat data , only Arbitrum One , OP Mainnet , dYdX v3, and ZKsync Lite have achieved this coveted stage 1 milestone. Still, Vitalik has suggested that several ZK rollups are well on their way to achieving the milestone.
"Multiple ZK-rollup teams have told me they're on track to be stage 1 by year end. I'm excited to see that happen!" He enthused on Thursday.Stage 2 would see Layer 2 chains lose all their training wheels and rely only on cryptographic security.
On the Flipside
- Vitalik asserted that there might be grace for promising new projects.
- Taking the training wheels off Layer 2 chains is a highly technical undertaking.
Why This Matters
Achieving decentralization is necessary for Layer 2 chains to foster user confidence in the long term. Vitalik’s statements could encourage projects to bolster efforts to improve their perception and adoption within the Ethereum community.
Read these for more on Ethereum:
Why Fault Proofs Are Important as They Go Live on OP Mainnet Vitalik on Ethereum Sales: “That Was the Last One”
