Vitalik Buterin addressed criticism of the current state of Ethereum’s L2 user experience by insisting that developers should build for the future.
Vitalik Buterin recently responded to critiques of Ethereum’s Layer 2 user experience, which some argue is fragmented and complex.
Buterin emphasized that developers should focus on building for the future instead of defending the current limitations.
Vitalik Buterin Envisions a Unified Layer 2 Experience for Ethereum
Camila Russo, founder of DeFi media outlet The Defiant, publicly criticized Ethereum’s Layer 2 experience, calling it “painful” for crypto enthusiasts and “unusable” for newcomers, despite her affection for Ethereum.
In response, Buterin acknowledged the tendency to defend present-day limitations due to a sense of “powerlessness” in shaping the future.
However, he affirmed, “we are building what is to come,” pointing to his recent essay on a roadmap for seamless interoperability between Layer 2s.
Buterin explained that achieving smooth inter-Layer 2 interactions requires both technical advances and community efforts to standardize protocols, ultimately creating a unified Ethereum experience.
“If we consider Layer 2s part of Ethereum, we need to make the Layer 2 ecosystem feel like a unified Ethereum experience,” he stated.
Can Ethereum Fix Its Layer 2 Fragmentation?
Currently, Ethereum users must navigate multiple Layer 2s, with some applications spread across different chains—minting on one, airdrops on another, and stablecoins elsewhere—making the user experience feel disjointed.
Russo noted that this experience will not suffice as the ecosystem grows; instead, Ethereum will need a seamless, cohesive environment across all Layer 2s and the main network.
While some technical solutions, like account abstraction, exist, they have not been widely implemented in wallets and protocols.
Russo argued that improving Ethereum’s user experience will require extensive cross-ecosystem coordination, which may prove challenging if existing issues are overlooked.
Cross-Layer 2 interoperability aims to bring Ethereum’s ecosystem together, allowing for smoother cross-chain transactions with minimal gas fees and reducing reliance on centralized elements.
Key proposals include standardizing chain-specific addresses, payment requests, and keystore wallets to facilitate asset movement across Layer 2s.
Ethereum’s Surge: Combining Sharding and Layer 2 Solutions
Buterin’s recent blog post, The Surge, part of a series exploring Ethereum’s future, frames a rollup-centric approach combining sharding and Layer 2 solutions as a key scaling strategy. Buterin acknowledged this roadmap’s challenges, stating,
“Our task is to bring the rollup-centric roadmap to completion and address these issues, all while preserving the robustness and decentralization that make Ethereum Layer 1 unique.”
To scale Ethereum, Buterin has set a target of 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) across Layer 1 and Layer 2.
He outlined ongoing efforts such as data availability sampling and improving Ethereum’s foundational layer to support this growth.
Additionally, he proposed optimizing gas fees to boost TPS by 1.5x, reflecting Ethereum’s ongoing commitment to network performance and user accessibility.
