Ethereum’s Buterin Weighs In on Layer 2s and Culture

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently weighed in on the cultural shift caused by layer-2 solutions.

He recalled how Ethereum gradually developed its own culture and identity after initially being viewed as merely Bitcoin with smart contracts. Now, Buterin claims that layer-2s have become a breeding ground for various subcultures within the Ethereum ecosystem.

According to Buterin, layer-2s end up “culturally specializing” by showing more willingness to perform user outreach, prioritizing different values (public goods, good tech, scaling, financial inclusion, and so on) as well as having diverse participants.

At the same time, the Ethereum co-founder has identified some possible weak points of layer-2 communities. First of all, Buterin has warned that such communities could potentially turn into echo chambers, which means that they would start acting as “separate universes.” He also sees the possibility of these communities collapsing into a monoculture, a scenario that will make it challenging for new subcommunities to develop. Finally, Buterin is concerned about communities mimicking the path of layer-2s that disregard other goals over some financial success.

Buterin concedes that he does not have perfect answers to the possible issues faced by the Ethereum community. “Many of the challenges stem from incentive misalignments; the natural solution to that is to create better ecosystem-wide incentives for collaboration,” he added.

As reported by U.Today, prominent investment firm VanEck recently published a report, in which it predicted that the total valuation of layer-2 solutions could reach $1 trillion.

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