Arbitrum, Optimism and Base Respond to Buterin's Criticism of L2s

In recent months, Vitalik Buterin has repeatedly returned to a subject that haunts him: Layer 2 (L2). Despite Ethereum’s recent technical successes and convincing updates, the network co-founder believes the mission of L2s must evolve. For him, the simple idea of “scaling” is no longer sufficient. He now calls for a profound overhaul: making L2s specialized environments, not cheap copies of Ethereum.

Vitalik Buterin sounds the end of “all-scaling”

Vitalik Buterin surprised the crypto community with a series of posts published on X. He declares that the initial vision of L2s no longer holds. According to him, Ethereum’s mainnet scalability is progressing quickly: increase in the gas limit, drop in fees, and future integration of ZK-EVM proofs.

L2s, designed as performance engines, struggle to keep up: reliance on multisignature bridges, slowness to Stage 2, and incomplete security. Buterin therefore calls for specialization: rollups should explore other paths — AI, privacy, institutional finance, or blockchain gaming.

In a clear message, Jesse Pollak summarizes: 

In the future, L2s can no longer be content with being “lower-cost Ethereum.” That is why, since the launch of Base, we engage every day to welcome new users, developers, and applications, to advance the technology, and to do so symbiotically, to grow the entire ecosystem.

This change in tone reveals a transition: Ethereum no longer seeks to absorb everything but to become a federating ecosystem, where each L2 assumes its own identity while strengthening network coherence.

Optimism, Arbitrum and Base: chain reactions in the crypto sphere

Buterin’s publication triggered an avalanche of responses among major players in the crypto market.

At Optimism Foundation, Karl Floersch was enthusiastic but realistic: 

The default withdrawal delay from Ethereum is one week! That is insane and must become a priority. We need to bring it down to one hour… or even ten minutes!

Meanwhile, Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, published an in-depth thread: for him, scaling remains essential. He recalls that Arbitrum and Base have already exceeded 1,000 transactions per second while Ethereum topped out at 40.

Goldfeder warns: if Ethereum is “hostile” to L2s, some companies might choose to create their own independent Layer 1s. A scenario that would cause Ethereum to lose its backbone status in Web 3. 

Finally, Jesse Pollak (Base) welcomes a “win-win” evolution: more power for Ethereum, more space for innovation for L2s.

Ethereum: between unity and divergence in the crypto race

Beyond the technical exchanges, Ethereum’s philosophy is being reshaped. Layer 1 gains power, while L2s become innovation labs.

Vitalik wants to establish a new trust link through the upcoming “native rollup precompile,” a feature meant to make ZK-EVM proof verifications safer and automated.

But the debate reveals tension: how to preserve ecosystem unity while fostering diversity? Goldfeder sums it up: Arbitrum is not Ethereum, but its closest ally. 

For crypto investors, this phase feels like a maturity test. If L2s emancipate without disconnecting from the main network, Ethereum could become the most modular system in the sector.

Otherwise, fragmentation threatens. The risk: emerging competing blocks, each playing its own Web 3 tune.

Some key landmarks on Ethereum and its L2s

• Current price of ETH: $2,080 on crypto markets;
• Recent transactions: up to 1,000 tps on Arbitrum and Base, versus 40 tps on L1;
• Technical challenge: Stage 2 proofs still unsecured for major bridges;
• Outlook: gas limit increase expected by the end of 2026;
• Crypto trend: L2s capture nearly 60% of decentralized application traffic.

Vitalik Buterin is already looking further. While the issue of L2s agitates the community, he now warns of another threat: quantum computing. According to him, this technology could jeopardize Ethereum’s cryptographic keys before 2028. A new battle looms, far more radical than the “scaling” one.