Ethereum fees are plummeting so fast that Vitalik Buterin says most Layer 2 chains now lack purpose

Ethereum fees have dropped significantly since the 2020 vision for Layer 2 (L2) rollups as 'branded shards,' leading Vitalik Buterin to argue that the original premise—L1 being too expensive and capacity-constrained—is now weak. L2BEAT data shows most value resides in Stage 1 rollups, meaning critical safety properties are often enforced by discretionary actors rather than code (Stage 2). Buterin proposes reframing L2s as a spectrum: those handling ETH assets must meet a minimum Stage 1 security bar, while others must compete by specializing in areas like privacy, custom execution environments, or ultra-low latency, rather than just offering cheap EVM execution. This shift means L2s must be honest about their trust models and specialization, as the assumption that all L2s are interchangeable scaling solutions is fading.

(Source：CryptoSlate)