📉 Is L2 losing users? Vitalik Buterin calls: Stop copying, start innovating!
The era of "cheap and simple" Ethereum copies is coming to an end. Vitalik Buterin recently issued an important warning: Layer 2 networks (L2) should not merely imitate the mainnet; otherwise, they risk losing their significance.
📊 Data speaks volumes
Data from mid-2025 to February 2026 shows a significant shift in the ecosystem:
L2 networks: Monthly active users plummeted from 58.4 million to 30 million. Ethereum mainnet: Active users doubled from 7 million to 15 million.
What is the reason behind this?
With the implementation of the Dencun upgrade, the processing capacity of the Ethereum mainnet has significantly increased, and costs have drastically decreased. The once biggest trump card of L2—"low fees"—is no longer a unique advantage. Users are returning to the more secure and liquid Ethereum native network.
💡 What are Buterin's suggestions?
Vitalik believes that current L2 projects are trapped in a vicious cycle of endlessly copying old DeFi protocols. To survive, L2 must turn to developing unique features:
Privacy protection: Introduce advanced user privacy tools. Specific environments: Create dedicated operating environments for specific applications (such as gaming, AI, enterprise-level applications). Deep integration: Truly leverage Ethereum's technology stack, rather than merely using it as a marketing gimmick (such as highly secure Rollups). “Notary” mechanism: Use Ethereum as a data notary to publish verifiable data proofs (such as ZK-proofs) to meet institutional-level transparency requirements.
Core viewpoint: The future is not about the number of chains, but the quality of chains. The L2s that will succeed are those that can provide features that the mainnet lacks, not just projects with “cheap gas fees.”
What do you think? Will L2 continue to remain competitive, or will we see liquidity massively return to the mainnet? Feel free to discuss in the comments! 👇
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