Vitalik Buterin Proposes Scaling Ethereum’s L1 for L2 Growth

Ethereum network’s Co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote another article “Possible futures for the Ethereum protocol, part 2: The Surge”, where he proposed scaling Ethereum’s Layer (L1) for maximum Layer2 (L2) scalability. He also touched upon achieving maximum L2 interoperability in the same article.

The article discusses that as L2 scaling solutions for Ethereum become more scalable and successful, certain risks emerge if Ethereum’s L1 remains limited in its capacity to handle transactions. One major concern is the long-term security of the Ethereum network, as a weak L1 could reduce the economic viability of Ether (ETH) and undermine its value. L2s take advantage of being closely integrated with a strong financial ecosystem on L1, and if L1 weakens, the incentive to operate on L2 rather than an independent L1 decreases.

Additionally, Vitalik asserted that security guarantees of L2s are not yet on par with L1, which could pose risks in the event of L2 failure. In such cases, users would still need to rely on L1 for asset recovery, emphasizing the need for L1 to be capable of managing complex operations during an L2 wind-down.

To address these challenges, “scaling L1 is essential”, noted Vitalik. Vitalik added that one approach is to gradually increase the gas limit, although this risks centralization. A more balanced strategy, according to Vitalik, involves improving Ethereum client software and introducing advanced technologies, such as multidimensional gas pricing and reducing gas costs for certain operations.

Vitalik further added that moreover, proposals like EVM-MAX and SIMD aim to enhance computation efficiency, while native rollups could enable parallel execution of transactions, boosting Ethereum’s overall scalability. Balancing these innovations with Ethereum’s core values of decentralization and security is crucial as the ecosystem evolves.

Vitalik concluded, “Clearly, it’s absurd for everything to go on L1”. He further went on to explain, “But we do need some guiding principle, so that we can make sure that we are not creating a situation where we increase the gas limit 10x, heavily damage the Ethereum L1’s decentralization, and find that we’ve only gotten to a world where instead of 99% of activity being on L2, 90% of activity is on L2, and so the result otherwise looks almost the same, except for an irreversible loss of much of what makes Ethereum L1 special.”

Also Read: Vitalik Buterin Proposes Improvements to Proof of Stake, Aiming for 1 ETH Validator Staking