- Vitalik Buterin's Strategy Shift
- Debates on Layer 2 and Layer 1
- Disclosure of ETH Sales
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has announced a shift in his endorsement strategy for Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions.
Vitalik Buterin's Strategy Shift
Beginning in 2025, Vitalik Buterin will only publicly support L2 projects that have reached at least Stage 1 in their development, with a possible short grace period for new and genuinely interesting projects. In his post on X, he also emphasized that personal relationships or financial investments will not influence his decision to endorse a project.
The post also details the governance requirements for Stage 1, explaining that it necessitates a 75% consensus from the governing council for major decisions, such as overriding proof systems. At least 26% of the council must also be independent of the core development team, a measure designed to increase decentralization and reduce the likelihood of governance failures.
> “The era of rollups being glorified multisigs is coming to an end. The era of cryptographic trust is upon us.” - Vitalik Buterin (CITE_W_A).
Debates on Layer 2 and Layer 1
These comments come amid ongoing debates within the industry about whether L2 solutions compete with L1 networks like Ethereum. Max Resnick, an engineer with the Special Mechanisms Group, believes that L2s compete for users. However, Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, disagrees, suggesting that L2s and L1s work together to improve scalability. If Ethereum reaches its potential, we’ll have plenty of demand to fully saturate L1 and multiple L2s/L3s.
Disclosure of ETH Sales
On September 9, Spot On Chain reported that a multi-signature wallet receiving Ethereum from Buterin had sold 760 ETH, valued at $1.835 million. This sale followed earlier transfers totaling 3,800 ETH in August. Vitalik explained that the sale was related to a bio-defense group he funds and was triggered by an automatic Cowswap TWAP order set up in late August.
He also recently revealed that he has not sold ETH for personal benefit since 2018, emphasizing that his ETH sales typically go to charitable causes, non-profits, or other projects.
Thus, starting in 2025, Vitalik Buterin will support only those Layer 2 projects that have made significant progress and meet the set governance requirements.
