Vitalik: Stop Copy-Paste L2s-Are We Killing Ethereum?

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So here’s the thing: Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, is looking at this parade of new Layer 2s and says, “Enough with the copy-paste playbook.” These generic EVM chains with optimistic bridges feel less like progress and more like a high-stakes rerun with a new logo. What is this, a design pattern convention?

Are today’s L2s still aligned with Ethereum’s original scaling goals? That debate isn’t exactly a festival of fireworks.

No More Copypasta EVM Chains

In a February 5 post on X, he argued that comfort and familiarity-not technical necessity-are driving launches. It’s copy-paste designs that only skim the surface of Ethereum compatibility-the equivalent of showing up to a party in the same outfit, just with a different sticker on the front.

He drew a parallel between infrastructure choices and governance habits, noting that adding “an optimistic bridge to Ethereum with a one-week delay” has become routine, just like forking Compound once dominated DAO governance. What’s the deal with that?

“That’s something we’ve done far too much for far too long, because we got comfortable, and which has sapped our imagination and put us in a dead end,” Buterin wrote.

He didn’t stop at bridges. He warned that dropping Ethereum bridges entirely would be even worse.

“If you make an EVM chain without an optimistic bridge to Ethereum, that’s even worse,” he said, adding, “We don’t friggin need more copypasta EVM chains, and we definitely don’t need even more L1s.”

Buterin insists Ethereum’s base layer is already scaling and will continue to add EVM block space through 2026, though not without limits. Some workloads-AI-related applications-may still require lower latency or specialized execution environments. His take: push toward genuinely new architectures, not lightly modified replicas.

Matching “Vibes” With Real Ethereum Connection

His criticism builds on earlier remarks that many L2s no longer meet Ethereum’s original definition of scaling because they fail to inherit its security.

He argued that Ethereum no longer needs L2s to be branded shards, especially as mainnet fees fall and gas limits rise.

In his latest post, the 32-year-old stressed that public positioning should reflect technical reality. “Vibes need to match substance,” he wrote, taking aim at projects that market themselves as tightly connected to Ethereum while treating that link as an afterthought.

The co-founder outlined two reasonable models. One is an app chain that depends deeply on Ethereum, such as prediction markets that settle and manage accounts on the L1 while handling execution on a rollup. The other is what he called “institutional L2s,” where systems like government registries publish cryptographic proofs on-chain for transparency, even if they’re not trustless or credibly neutral.

“If you’re the first thing, it’s valid and great to call yourself an Ethereum application,” Buterin said. “If you’re the second thing, then you’re not Ethereum… so you should just say those things directly.”

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2026-02-06 07:56