4 weeks ago
Opinion by: Igor Mandrigin, co-founder and CTPO of Gateway.fm
Every mates of weeks, it seems different furniture 2 rolls out, overmuch to the chagrin of immoderate Web3 manufacture commentators who are acrophobic astir fragmentation. A caller Gemini Institutional Insights study really noted however a caller Ethereum L2 solution is launched astir each 19 days. In effect to the seemingly endless conveyor loop of caller zkEVMs and optimistic rollups coming to market, the chorus of disapproval continues to turn louder: “This is decidedly the saturation point, nary much chains are needed.”
Some of the astir outspoken critics of L2s reason that L2s are redundant, but this is constrictive thinking. In galore ways, the thought that creating caller L2s should beryllium slowed down is similar arguing that determination were excessively galore websites successful 1998. The proliferation of L2s is not causing the Web3 abstraction to go overly bloated oregon fragmented astatine all. The fig of chains contiguous isn’t excessively many. It’s laughably few, and close present is the aboriginal innings of a multi-decade detonation successful specialized, modular blockchain infrastructure.
The emergence of L2s is acold from a passing fad
While immoderate contend that this L2 surge we’ve been experiencing is simply a impermanent frenzy led by DeFi degenerates, it’s truly an enterprise-grade infrastructure expansion, arsenic banks (including Deutsche Bank), crippled studios (gaming enactment connected immoderate L2 blockchains roseate by over 20,000% successful February 2025), logistics networks and planetary manufacturers get connected board.
Industries similar banking and logistics, which are typically risk-averse, don’t marque large tech pivots lightly. They bash truthful due to the fact that they person to, and successful galore cases, nationalist blockchains bash not conscionable their needs. Returning to their inherent risk-averse DNA, ample enterprises and institutions successful these sectors mostly won’t privation to physique connected shared, general-purpose L1s. Instead, they’ll privation to deploy their ain chains wherever they tin bask customized performance, predictable costs, jurisdictional compliance and granular-level privacy.
This absorption connected proprietary networks isn’t solely a Web3 thing. Let’s deliberation astir it. Did Facebook, Netflix and JPMorgan co-host connected GeoCities? Of people not, truthful wherefore would Web3 beryllium immoderate different? Shared L1s and monolithic architectures mightiness person worked for aboriginal token experiments and composable DeFi primitives. Still, realistically, they can’t enactment real-world businesses’ complexity, regulatory load oregon contractual requirements.
The increasing viability of L2s
Thanks to modular stacks, rollup-as-a-service platforms and breakthrough zero-knowledge impervious technology, spinning up a dedicated concatenation is becoming progressively viable and accessible to a wide scope of enterprises crossed the manufacture spectrum. As the infrastructure improves, the outgo of launching and maintaining specialized chains volition besides reduce, truthful a important emergence successful the fig of L2s tin beryllium expected arsenic clip goes on.
Recent: Devs present Ethereum R1 layer-2 scaling solution
Some onlookers volition reason that this aboriginal volition beryllium convoluted for users forced to hop betwixt chains portion voicing concerns astir liquidity fragmentation and the dispersal of tradable assets crossed aggregate platforms. These are short-sighted concerns. We’re gathering toward seamless interoperability done shared colony layers, trust-minimized bridges and unified relationship abstraction. Ultimately, the end-user won’t attraction whether they’re connected rollup #4,318 oregon concatenation #9,072; they’ll conscionable transact with easiness and beryllium blessed with that.
In the aforesaid mode that unreality computing unlocked hyper standard by abstracting the hardware layer, modular blockchains are unlocking hyperscale for worth transfer, plus issuance and programmable trust. Irrespective of what the doubters say, specialized L2s won’t cannibalize each other. They’ll service antithetic verticals, jurisdictions and usage cases. There is nary crushed wherefore an L2 for high-frequency trading can’t easy coexist with an L2 for nationalist onshore registries.
We’re not drowning successful chains — we’re hardly ankle-deep successful the expansive strategy of things. Anyone earnestly betting connected consolidation oregon immoderate magical “winner-take-all” concatenation is conscionable betting against standard and sovereignty. The existent stake is hundreds of L2s and thousands of usage cases arsenic portion of 1 modular, scalable future.
Opinion by: Igor Mandrigin, co-founder and CTPO of Gateway.fm.
This nonfiction is for wide accusation purposes and is not intended to beryllium and should not beryllium taken arsenic ineligible oregon concern advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed present are the author’s unsocial and bash not needfully bespeak oregon correspond the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
English (US) 