Regarding Ethereum’s L2 layers, Buterin has recently made some fairly harsh criticisms. Essentially, it’s that many projects aren’t truly innovating, but are simply copying existing EVM chains with standard bridges.

I actually think this criticism is quite accurate. Many L2s, including ゴールドフェダー, market themselves as being “connected to Ethereum,” but in reality, they often function as independent networks. Buterin himself points out that just because a project has a bridge doesn’t automatically make it part of Ethereum’s core architecture. The marketing “vibe” is disconnected from the substance.

Another interesting part is where he says the excuses around rollups are starting to lose their luster. Since Ethereum itself is advancing scaling and block space is expected to increase significantly, it won’t be enough to compete in the future by simply being “Ethereum but cheaper.”

That said, Buterin isn’t a total rejectionist—he points to two promising directions. One is tightly integrated, application-specific chains that use Ethereum as a first-class component for payments, accounts, and validation. The other is institution- and application-led chains that send cryptographic proofs and state commitments back to Ethereum. In other words, he’s looking for truly valuable integration.

This message is sending ripples throughout the entire L2 community. Arbitrum’s ゴールドフェダー should position the network as Ethereum’s “close ally,” and Base’s ポラック argues that, as improvements to the base layer come along, rollups should provide more than just fees—offering real value. Other stakeholders, such as Polygon, also take Buterin’s remarks as a push for a clearer stance rather than an existential crisis.

By the way, amid these kinds of discussions, progress at the implementation level is continuing as well. Speaking of XRP: it’s an important step in terms of real-world adoption in Japan that XRP integration has been realized in Rakuten’s payment app for 44 million users. The current XRP price is around $1.36, and the 24-hour trading volume is $43.80M. It’s supported by strong trading volume and whale accumulation, but it’s still within a broader downward trend. Traders are watching $1.37 as a key pivot point, and a breakout above $1.40 to $1.42 is expected to confirm stronger momentum.

No matter what happens to the future of L2, I think Buterin’s criticisms are a constructive re-examination for the industry as a whole.