Vitalik Buterin Highlights Core Issues Around Layer 2 Networks

• Vitalik Buterin has highlighted the core issues around blockchain Layer-two (L2) protocols.
• Buterin thinks validiums are better than multisigs, and the naming should reflect that.
• According to Buterin, the core of being a rollup is the unconditional security guarantee.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has highlighted the core issues around blockchain Layer-two (L2) protocols. Buterin offered his opinion in a debate among Ethereum community members on X. One of Buterin’s arguments is that validiums are better than multisigs, and the naming should reflect that.

The debate started after Buterin acknowledged that if an Ethereum rollup uses another data chain for data availability (DA), it becomes an Ethereum validium. According to Buterin, the core of being a rollup is the unconditional security guarantee. He explained that with rollups, users can get their assets out even if everyone else goes against them.

Buterin thinks that being a validium is the correct choice for many apps. He also believes that reliable distributed DA guarantee systems can increase the practical security of a validium.

The Ethereum founder divided L2 blockchains into two categories; “security favoring” and “scale favoring” protocols. According to Buterin, the big intermediate space between rollups and validiums creates a firestorm.

Following his categorization, Buterin made further comparisons among L2 networks. He argued that rollups are better than validiums security-wise, though more expensive. He thinks the naming should reflect rollups’ higher security without making validiums feel illegitimate.

Furthermore, Buterin believes SNARKs on-chain and data off-chain are much better security-wise than fraud proofs on-chain and data off-chain. He noted that historically, validiums meant only the former. He also believes that rollups are practically L2s with complete security, noting that the latter includes plasma and channels.

Ryan Berckmans, an Ethereum community member who joined the discussion, highlighted that the industry’s novelty allows users to define L2 however they want. According to Berckmans, the maximally useful definition of L2 includes rollups and validiums.