Vitalik Buterin Urges New Approach as Ethereum Layer 2 Usage Drops by 50%
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is urging Layer 2 networks to rethink their technique. He factors to a significant decline in L2 customers—from 58.4 million to about 30 million—even as Ethereum’s base community greater than doubled its personal energetic addresses.
This shift comes as Ethereum’s main community exhibits surprising power. Transaction charges are at file lows, and specialists count on gasoline limits to rise by 2026. As a end result, Ethereum’s base layer can now deal with many extra transactions independently.
Layer 2’s Original Purpose Fades
In a detailed post, Buterin defined that the unique Layer 2 imaginative and prescient is outdated. Initially, L2s had been anticipated to behave as “branded shards” that might improve Ethereum, with the principle community seen as restricted in its scalability. However, Ethereum Layer 1 now processes transactions at minimal price. Meanwhile, deliberate gasoline restrict will increase will additional increase its capability. Layer 2 initiatives have additionally struggled to reach top-tier security, with stage 2 rollup targets proving tough to attain.
TokenTerminal knowledge exhibits month-to-month Layer 2 addresses fell from 58.4 million in mid-2025 to round 30 million by February 2026. During this era, Ethereum’s foremost community gained customers—energetic addresses soared from 7 million to fifteen million, a 41.4% improve. This sharp reversal suggests customers are shifting again to the bottom chain as transaction charges fall.
Buterin additionally famous that some Layer 2 operators admit they could by no means intention for stage 2 rollup standing. Instead, they concentrate on regulatory wants demanding final community management. This strategy diverges from the permissionless, trustless beliefs at Ethereum’s core.
Market Adjusts to Uncertainty
The market has responded to this id disaster with skepticism. Top Layer 2 tokens declined 15% to 30% in January 2026, primarily based on CoinGecko data. The sector’s whole market capitalization is now $7.95 billion as of February 4, 2026, highlighting continued weak point.
Leading tokens such as Arbitrum ($0.13211), ZKsync ($0.02327), and Optimism ($0.2192) all replicate this blended efficiency. Still, these numbers masks a deeper subject. As Ethereum Layer 1’s accessibility improves, many customers go for its superior safety. The want for Layer 2 networks as cost-savers fades, leaving L2 groups to rethink their basic position within the ecosystem.
Behavioral adjustments are clear: when transaction prices drop, customers gravitate to the principle chain. This contradicts earlier assumptions that Layer 2 would dominate on a regular basis transactions. Security and ease on Layer 1 are more and more valued as boundaries fall.
Vitalik Buterin’s Roadmap for Layer 2
Buterin’s suggestions for Layer 2 networks concentrate on defining new worth past scaling. He highlights potential areas such as privacy-focused digital machines, use instances particular to single purposes, or completely new approaches for non-financial platforms like social networks and id techniques.
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“What would I do as we speak if I had been an L2? Identify a worth add aside from ‘scaling’. Examples: non-EVM specialised options/VMs round privateness, effectivity specialised round a specific software, really excessive ranges of scaling that even a significantly expanded L1 is not going to do, a very completely different design for non-financial purposes, eg. social, id, AI.”
Buterin insists that Layer 2s that handle ETH or different Ethereum-based belongings should obtain at the least stage 1 safety. Without this, they grow to be remoted blockchains with bridge hyperlinks, dropping their perform as Ethereum extensions. He additionally helps robust interoperability, although the main points range relying on the community’s construction.
A local rollup precompile, Buterin argues, is vital infrastructure. This software would enable Ethereum to confirm ZK-EVM proofs immediately, sustain with protocol adjustments, and supply hard-fork safety. It may give Layer 2s the liberty to design customized options whereas permitting them to depend on Ethereum’s safe verification layer.
This versatile imaginative and prescient permits for a spectrum of Layer 2 fashions. Networks with EVM extensions can use the precompile for traditional transactions and create distinctive proofs for added options. Such modularity helps trustless interplay with Ethereum whereas additionally leaving room for centralized management. Buterin notes that that is a part of the developer’s selection in a permissionless system.
As Ethereum’s base layer continues to develop by 2026, Layer 2 networks face a pivotal take a look at. Data confirms that customers select mainnet safety when it’s attainable. Layer 2s should now provide compelling causes for customers to interact—past solely lowering prices. The reply could lie in superior privateness instruments, new digital machines, or distinct purposes. The course Layer 2s select will assist chart Ethereum’s future panorama.
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