Vitalik Buterin Says Layer 3s Won’t Magically Increase Throughput

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has re-upped his put up from 1.5 years in the past on “Layer 3s”, saying that L3s gained’t magically enhance throughput. Nonetheless, they will cut back sure fastened prices related to batch publishing and deposits or withdrawals.

His assertion comes amid issues that Layer 3 networks are taking away from Ethereum’s worth and safety.

L3 Doesn’t Magically Enhance Throughput

In accordance with Buterin’s X put up, there are various, doubtlessly “lighter” approaches to realize comparable price financial savings as these provided by Layer 3 options.

Nevertheless, there are different, doubtlessly “lighter”, methods to get the identical price financial savings that you simply get from L3s. pic.twitter.com/WTijiTAOE1

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

In his prior put up, Buterin outlined fashions for Layer 3 options. In certainly one of them, Layer 2 is answerable for scaling, whereas Layer 3 focuses on customizing performance. Whereas this doesn’t instantly improve scalability, it permits purposes to scale by way of L2s whereas dissecting layers to satisfy particular operational necessities for numerous use circumstances.

The second mannequin includes Layer 2 scaling for normal functions, with personalized scaling dealt with by Layer 3. This may be achieved by way of rollups, which optimize information codecs for particular purposes.

The third mannequin assigns Layer 2 for trustless scaling and Layer 3 for weekly trusted scaling. Right here, Layer 2 focuses on rollups, whereas Layer 3 incorporates Validiums. They make the most of SNARKs for computation verification however depend on a trusted third social gathering for information availability. Regardless of having decrease safety ranges, Validiums are cost-effective, as identified by Buterin.

He then mentioned that he favored the three-layered blockchain mannequin over the two-layered one, highlighting that the previous allows a whole ecosystem to perform inside one rollup. This setup permits for cross-domain actions throughout the ecosystem cost-effectively, eliminating the necessity to bear the costly prices related to Layer 1.

Layer 3 Sparks Controversy

Whereas some advocate for integrating Layer 3 (L3) networks to boost Ethereum’s effectivity and performance, there are issues amongst others relating to their potential implications for decentralization and community safety.

In a put up on March 31, the Polygon Labs CEO argued that they opted to not develop Layer 3 chains as a result of they have been deemed pointless and detrimental to Ethereum’s worth. He emphasised his perception that Layer 3 networks posed a safety risk to Ethereum, illustrating a state of affairs the place all Layer 3s decide on a single Layer 2.

Boiron argued that if Ethereum have been to generate minimal charges and lacked prospects for future earnings, its worth would diminish. Consequently, validators would lose confidence in holding ETH, resulting in decreased community safety.