After Vitalik raised questions about the L2 scaling model, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base responded in succession.

PANews reported on February 4th, citing Cointelegraph, that following Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin's comments that "the original vision of Layer 2 as the primary scaling engine is no longer applicable," several L2 builders responded, generally agreeing that Rollups need to transcend the positioning of being "cheaper Ethereum," but disagreeing on whether scaling should still be their core role. Optimism co-founder Karl Floersch welcomed the challenge of building a modular L2 stack supporting "full-spectrum decentralization," while acknowledging major obstacles such as long withdrawal times, the incomplete production readiness of Phase 2 proofs, and a lack of cross-chain application tools. He supported the native Rollup pre-compilation scheme emphasized by Buterin.

Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, the developer of Arbitrum , takes a more hardline stance, arguing that while the Rollup model has evolved, scaling remains the core value of L2. He points out that Arbitrum was not built as "a service of Ethereum," but rather because Ethereum provides a highly secure, low-cost settlement layer that enables large-scale Rollups. He warns that if Ethereum is perceived as hostile to Rollups, institutions might choose to launch independent Layer 1 chains instead of deploying on Ethereum.

Base lead Jesse Pollak stated that the scaling of Ethereum's L1 is "a victory for the entire ecosystem," agreeing that L2 cannot simply be "cheaper Ethereum." He mentioned that Base is differentiating itself through applications, account abstraction, and privacy features, and is working towards the second phase of decentralization. StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson hinted that some ZK-native L2s (such as Starknet) believe they already meet the specialized role described by Buterin. The entire Ethereum ecosystem is facing a roadmap adjustment: the base layer aims to enhance its own capabilities, while L2 is repositioned as a dedicated environment serving different technical needs.