Key Points
- Steven Goldfeder defended Vitalik Buterin’s L2 roadmap against recent criticisms.
- Buterin also joined the discussion, providing his perspective on Layer 2 solutions.
Recently, the vision of Vitalik Buterin for Layer 2 (L2) solutions has been under scrutiny.
Critics claim these solutions have deviated from the foundational principles and original roadmap of Ethereum (ETH).
Critics argue that L2 solutions, created to boost Ethereum’s scalability, no longer coincide with the network’s core goals.
However, they often fail to consider important elements of Buterin’s 2020 rollup-centric roadmap, which lays out a clear path for L2 development.
Defending Buterin’s L2 Roadmap
Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, responded to these criticisms in a recent post.
He revisited Buterin’s 2020 roadmap, highlighting that the current development of L2 solutions is still in line with Ethereum’s long-term vision.
Goldfeder refuted the critics, stating they hadn’t read Buterin’s rollup-centric roadmap from 2020.
To support his argument, Goldfeder shared quotes that directly counter some of the most unusual claims, providing clear proof in favor of Buterin’s original roadmap.
The first criticism was based on a common misunderstanding that different L2 solutions, such as Arbitrum and Base, couldn’t be part of the Ethereum ecosystem due to their competitive nature.
However, Goldfeder debunked this claim by referring to Buterin’s roadmap, which stressed that it’s okay for Ethereum to consist of several unique “islands” that are still part of a larger Ethereum.
Diversity in L2 Solutions
These “islands” can still contribute to the overall Ethereum ecosystem despite their differences.
The diversity in L2 solutions strengthens Ethereum by offering various approaches that complement the network rather than detract from it.
The second claim was that “L2 tokens are bad. Collecting fees/MEV revenue is bad and misaligned with Ethereum.”
Goldfeder pointed out that this claim is baseless, emphasizing that it was a key feature in the 2020 roadmap.
The final claim made by critics was that “L2s aren’t meant for DeFi. DeFi should be left on Ethereum, and L2s supporting DeFi projects are misaligned.”
To this, Goldfeder responded by stating that Vitalik literally calls out DeFi as the expected first adopter in a comment on the 2020 roadmap.
Vitalik Buterin also joined the discussion and shared his views on Layer 2 solutions.
Meanwhile, the price of Ethereum struggled to break the $2,500 barrier, trading at $2,337—down 0.91% over the past 24 hours.
