Vitalik Buterin: L3s Can Reduce Costs But There Are ‘Lighter’ Ways

• Vitalik Buterin believes L3 networks “don’t magically improve throughput.”
• Buterin also stated that there are “lighter ways” to save costs other than using L3s. 
• Polygon’s Marc Boiron believes L3s only exist to take value away from Ethereum.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-creator of the Ethereum blockchain, has reiterated his stance on Layer 3 networks, adding that they “don’t magically improve throughput.” 

In a post on social media platform X, Buterin shared his article on Layer 3 networks that he wrote around 1.5 years ago, which concludes that L3 networks “can reduce some fixed costs of batch publishing and deposits/withdrawals.”

Buterin, however, believes that there are “lighter” ways to get the cost savings that users get from the usage of L3 networks.

Moreover, the Ethereum co-creator went on to say in the article that the debate for the classification of L3 networks and L2 networks remains open, adding that it is “premature to settle definitions while the architecture of the multi-rollup ecosystem is far from set in stone and most of the discussion is happening only in theory.”

Notably, Polygon CEO Marc Boiron shares an opposite opinion, recently stirring the crypto community on X, stating that “L3s exist only to take value away from Ethereum and onto the L2s on which the L3s are built.” 

Boiron’s views were challenged by a commentator who said that L2s on Ethereum “ARE value on Ethereum.” The Polygon executive replied: 

“I disagree that L2 value is Ethereum value. Just take this to the extreme. If all L3s settled to one L2, then Ethereum would capture basically no value and, thus, Ethereum security would be at risk.”

Right now, some of the main players in the L3 ecosystem, building on solutions from L2 networks, are Orbs, Xai, zkSync Hyperchains, and the newly launched Degen Chain on Arbitrum Orbit. However, it’s important to note that this sector is still relatively small.