Vitalik: L1 should focus on self-scaling, while L2 should focus on unique value rather than just expansion

Wu said he learned that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted a tweet stating that the original vision centered around rollups is no longer applicable and a new path is needed. The reasons are: slow progress of L2 towards Stage 2; L1’s own scalability (lower costs, and gas limit expected to significantly increase in 2026). The original vision viewed L2 as a “brand sharding” providing full trustless scalability, but now L2 is unwilling or unable to meet this (partly due to regulatory requirements), and L1 has directly scaled itself. It is recommended to view L2 as a lineage, allowing users to choose different levels of connection based on their needs; L2 should seek unique value beyond scalability (such as privacy, non-EVM VMs, extreme scalability, ultra-low latency, built-in oracles, etc.), with at least Stage 1 support for ETH assets to maximize interoperability. Support native rollup precompiled contracts, utilizing built-in ZK-EVM to achieve trustless EVM verification and composability; allow L2 to self-certify additional features and clearly inform users of security guarantees.