L3 hype sparks controversy, Ethereum founder Vitalik: L3 is not a magical solution for scalability

Recently, the rise of the L3 project Degen Chain has led to speculation in various circles about the possibility of L3 starting to develop on a large scale. However, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin pointed out that L3 cannot magically increase throughput.

Less than a week after its launch, Degen Chain's trading volume exceeded one billion, with its native token Degen surging over fifty times.

L3 Will Not Magically Increase Throughput

Vitalik referenced and updated his article on L3 from a year and a half ago titled "What kind of layer 3s make sense?", concluding that while L3 can reduce some fixed costs for deposits and withdrawals, it cannot magically increase throughput.

However, Vitalik pointed out that there are lighter-weight upgrade paths that can achieve similar cost savings as L3.

In the article, he mentioned three L3 models, advocating for L2 to handle scaling while L3 focuses on customizing application features. Although this does not directly increase scalability, it allows L3 applications to scale through L2 while meeting specific operational requirements for different applications.

Vitalik believes that the debate over definitions like L3 is not important; what matters are the technical questions about "which structures actually make sense." Currently, due to the uncertain nature of the L2 ecosystem, most discussions remain theoretical.

He speculated that as the L2 scaling ecosystem matures, more complex or simpler architectures, such as the one he described in the article, may gradually be realized, at which point L3 may begin to play a more significant role.

Re-upping my post from 1.5 years ago on "layer 3s":https://t.co/iHWEgPA7Hl

The summary is that layer 3s don't magically improve throughput even more, though they can reduce some fixed costs of batch publishing and deposits/withdrawals.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) April 2, 2024

L3 Speculation Sparks Controversy

Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, recently stated that Layer3 will only capture value for Layer2 and will not benefit Ethereum's development, emphasizing that Polygon will not develop L3, positioning itself as a loyal servant to Ethereum.

He also pointed out that if all Layer3s are built on a certain Layer2, Ethereum will essentially not gain any value and may face security risks instead.

This seems to be a criticism aimed at the recent rise of Degen Chain.

Polygon will not develop Layer3, CEO: Protecting Ethereum's Security