Ethereum developers offer an ‘economic zone’ to fix the L2 crash
Developers from Gnosis and Zysk, with support from the Ethereum Foundation, have proposed a new framework that aims to unify Ethereum's decentralized layer-2 ecosystem by allowing bundles to communicate with each other and the mainnet in a single transaction.
According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the proposed “Ethereum Economic Zone” (EEZ) will allow smart contracts across different services to run concurrently across networks without relying on bridges.
The initiative is aimed at the key transaction of Ethereum's scaling strategy, with dozens of layer-2 networks with improved throughput but distributed liquidity, infrastructure and user activity across multiple locations.
If implemented, the framework will allow applications to share infrastructure collectively when they are returned to Ethereum, reducing the need for duplication and cross-chaining.
The project is being jointly developed with Ethereum researchers and industry participants, with early contributors exploring a common standard for interoperable abstractions from infrastructure providers and Diff protocols.
Technical details and performance metrics are expected in the coming weeks as the team begins to outline how and when it will be implemented across the broader Ethereum ecosystem it embraces.
The proposal introduces the “EEZ Alliance,” a group of ecosystem participants seeking to coordinate standards and support adoption as Ethereum's scaling architecture continues to evolve.
Gnosis is an early Ethereum infrastructure developer. Zisk is a zero-knowledge proofing project led by Polygon zkEVM creator Jordi Baylina.
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Ethereum's bundle model has sparked debate over fragmentation and scaling.
The proposal comes amid an ongoing debate within the Ethereum community over its blockchain-centric roadmap for business. While layer-2 networks increase the capacity of the ecosystem, they also distribute liquidity and user activity across different areas.
Data from L2BEAT shows that more than 20 active Layer-2 networks generate nearly $40 billion in total value. Instead of consolidating activity, Ethereum's scaling model has created the appearance of parallel execution environments.
Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, has raised concerns about the design of some layer-2 networks, the possible weak points to central orders and trusted bridge mechanisms.
“The first vision of L2s and their role in Ethereum no longer makes sense, and we need a new way,” Buterin said in a February 3 X post.
Buterin's comments drew mixed reactions from Layer-2 builders, reflecting a split over the role of packaging going forward.
Optism co-founder Carl Florsch acknowledged that L2s need to evolve beyond simple scaling, citing ongoing technical limitations, while Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, the company behind Arbitrum, argued that scaling is a key function as scrolls continue to handle higher transaction volumes than Ethereum.
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