Ethereum is Linux for the open price internet.

The Ethereum network is a decentralized layer-1 that executes smart contracts, similar to the open source operating system Linux, said Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.

Linux and Ethereum are both open source and feature custom implementations. Linux achieves this through developers building custom software, while Ethereum does so through layer-2 (L2) measurement networks, Buterin said.

Linux has provided value to “billions” of individuals, enterprises and state governments “without compromising” on open source ethics or decentralization, Buterin added:

“Ethereum L1 as a financial and, ultimately, an identity, social and administrative house for individuals and organizations to have a high degree of autonomy and to have access to the full power of the network without dependence on intermediaries.”

Similarly, the Ethereum Foundation highlights the long-term goals of making Ethereum the Internet's operating system for distributed computing, value and risk transfer, and consensus across the Internet.

Related: Ethereum and Solana clash over what blockchain resilience really means.

Ethereum has layer-2s for every taste, but the tension remains

According to L2Beat, there are 127 layer-2 networks in the Ethereum ecosystem at the time of this writing.

Critics of Ethereum's layer-2 scaling approach say there are too many layer-2 networks, competing with Ethereum and cannibalizing its base layer revenue, which declined following the March 2024 Denko update.

Proponents of Ethereum's blockchain approach say that a diverse ecosystem of layer-2 networks will provide Ethereum users with options and a better user experience.

A modular elasticity strategy allows Ethereum to have multiple high-yield chains built on top of the base layer, Anurag Arjun, co-founder of Ethereum L2 Polygon, told Cointelegraph.

“The underappreciated beauty of this package-oriented roadmap architecture is that it allows multiple teams to test in different execution environments and with different block times,” said Arjun.

However, without true blockchain interoperability, the influx of blockchains leads to greater ecosystem fragmentation, trapping user liquidity in isolated pools and creating a worse user experience, Arjun told Cointelegraph.

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