The role of Ethereum L2 builders debates after the reform of the Vitalik package
Several Layer-2 developers responded after Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin said that L2s' initial vision as a primary switching engine “doesn't make sense anymore.”
In Wednesday's post, Buterin argued that many L2s have failed to fully inherit Ethereum's security due to continued reliance on multisig bridges, the base layer's increasing ability to handle more flows through gas-limit increases and future native rolls.
The comments prompted responses from Ethereum's Layer 2, which broadly agreed that coils should evolve beyond being cheaper versions of Ethereum, but differed on whether scale should remain central to their role.
The Ethereum ecosystem is grappling with a dynamic roadmap to make its base layer more capable, while L2s are designated as niche areas that serve specific technical needs.
Ethereum L2 builders accept shifts, varying in scale role.
Carl Florsch, co-founder of the Optimism Foundation, told XPost that he welcomes the challenge of building a modular L2 stack that supports “full decentralization.”
He also acknowledged that there are major obstacles. These include long release windows, lack of production-ready Level 2 certifications, and inadequate tooling for cross-chain applications.
“Phase 2 is not ready for production,” writes Florsch, adding that the available evidence is not yet reliable enough to support major bridges. It also supports native Ethereum precompiling, a concept Buterin recently emphasized to make trustless authentication more accessible.
Steven Goldfeder, founder of Arbitrum developer Offchain Labs, took a stronger stance in the long X thread. While the roll model has evolved, it has been argued that alignment is a core value of L2s.
GoldFeeder Arbitrum was not built as a “service for Ethereum” because Ethereum provides a high-security, low-cost settlement layer that implements large-scale flips.
He also pushed back on the idea that a scalable Ethereum mainnet could replace the flow currently handled by L2 networks. Goldfeeder cited periods of high activity with Arbitrage and Base processing more than 1,000 transactions per second, while Ethereum saw less handling.
He warned that if Ethereum turns out to be hostile to encryption, institutions may open independent layer-1 chains instead of deploying on Ethereum.
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Variation of base frames, alignment of starknet clues
Jesse Pollack, head of Base, said on XPost that Ethereum's L1 scale is “a win for the entire ecosystem.” He agreed that L2s cannot be “only Ethereum but cheap”.
Pollack said Base is focused on onboarding users and developers as it moves toward Level 2 decentralization, and the differences between apps, account abstraction, and privacy features are consistent with Buterin's stated direction.
Starkware CEO Eli Ben-Sasson, whose company developed the EVM non-Starknet package, responded with a brief but pointed jab at X, saying, “Don't say Starknet, say Starknet.”
Ben-Sasson's comment hints that some ZK-born L2s consider themselves to fit the specific role already described by Buterin.
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