Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin recently issued a sharp rebuke against the current trend of launching new, technologically redundant Layer 1 (L1) blockchains, urging the cryptocurrency sector to focus its energy instead on scaling established platforms via Layer 2 (L2) solutions. His comments underscore a significant strategic divide in the blockchain world regarding scaling and ecosystem growth.
Buterin’s core criticism targets L1s that are essentially ‘copy-paste EVM chains’—forks of the Ethereum Virtual Machine that offer minimal technological differentiation while fragmenting liquidity and developer focus. He argues that the proliferation of these chains introduces unnecessary complexity and security risks without solving fundamental scaling challenges. According to Buterin, launching a new base layer must be justified by offering radical, non-incremental innovation that cannot be achieved by building on top of Ethereum.
Conversely, Buterin strongly reaffirmed the necessity of Layer 2 rollups (both Optimistic and zk-based) as the primary scaling solution for Ethereum. L2s, he noted, leverage the robust security and decentralization guarantees of the Ethereum mainnet while providing the high throughput and low fees demanded by mass adoption.
This stance effectively ‘narrows the case’ for new L1s. Unless a new blockchain offers fundamentally different properties—such as novel consensus mechanisms, specialized hardware integration (e.g., DePIN), or unique privacy features—it is better served by operating as a Layer 2 on Ethereum. Buterin’s message calls for industry consolidation and a renewed focus on scaling the existing decentralized infrastructure rather than diluting the ecosystem with redundant base chains.
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