Vitalik Buterin reevaluates Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap, arguing L2s decentralized ‘far slower’ while base layer advanced

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has signaled a shift away from the previously championed "rollup-centric" scaling model, stating that Layer 2s (L2s) have decentralized "far slower" than anticipated, while the Ethereum base layer itself has advanced significantly. Buterin concluded that the original vision for L2s as "branded shards" settling on the base layer no longer makes sense. He noted that most L2s have failed to progress past Stage 0 or Stage 1 in his decentralization framework, citing corporate interests, technical hurdles, and regulatory demands that sometimes prevent full decentralization. While not abandoning L2s, Buterin suggests they should be viewed as a full spectrum of chains with varying connections to Ethereum, rather than strict branded shards. He insists L2s must at least reach Stage 1, or risk being seen as mere competing L1s with a bridge, and should focus on value adds beyond scaling, such as privacy or specialized VMs.

(Source：The Block)