- Vitalik Buterin envisions rapid improvements in Ethereum’s Layer 2 (L2) interoperability, promising a seamless user experience across the Ethereum ecosystem
- Key Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) like EIP-3370, EIP-7683, and EIP-3668 are on the roadmap to enhance cross-chain communication and data access
- Buterin anticipates a shift towards zk-rollups in the next five years, which will significantly impact Ethereum’s scalability and finality
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has shared his vision on the cross-chain interoperability of Ethereum layer 2 networks, highlighting how upcoming updates could significantly enhance the user experience within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Buterin outlined several EIPs that will facilitate smoother communication between different layer 2 networks.
Buterin’s Vision for Layer 2 Interoperability
Buterin has just shared his vision on the cross-chain interoperability of Ethereum layer 2 networks, which could greatly improve the experience within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Vitalik Buterin recently shared his vision on the cross-chain interoperability of Ethereum layer 2 networks, which could greatly enhance the Ethereum ecosystem experience.
In a post on X published on August 6, Buterin responded to a question about the most promising ways to address interoperability between layer 2s.
This question followed Buterin’s August 5 post, in which he stated, “I think people will be surprised how quickly ‘layer 2 interoperability issues’ can stop being issues, and we get a smooth user experience across the Ethereumverse.”
He added that he sees “a lot of energy and willingness for this to happen,” before highlighting several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) on the roadmap aimed at improving L2 compatibility.
Key Ethereum Improvement Proposals for L2 Compatibility
One stage on the roadmap is EIP-3370, which introduces a new address standard that wallets and decentralized applications must adapt to, displaying chain-specific addresses with a human-readable prefix.
Another step in the update process is EIP-7683, which aims to create a standard way for different Ethereum layer 2 networks to communicate and execute cross-chain operations. Currently, trading assets between different networks is complex and often inefficient for users, so creating a new set of standard rules that all chains can follow would alleviate this issue.
Also on the roadmap is EIP-3668, a proposal that describes a standardized method for Ethereum smart contracts to access off-chain data. Buterin refers to these as “layer 2 light clients,” as the goal is to standardize how Ethereum contracts can utilize off-chain data.
This makes it easier and more efficient for developers to build applications that require large amounts of data without incurring high on-chain storage costs. He also mentioned “reproducible state updates between L2s,” which he explained in a 2023 blog post. This refers to how layer 2s receive recent L1 state updates while maintaining security and low latency.
Buterin mentioned some phase 2 updates to further improve L2 chain compatibility, including key storage rollups and proof aggregation.
Regarding compatibility with existing optimistic and zero-knowledge rollups, he said that these “phase 1” updates are “completely independent of the rollup technology details,” before concluding,
“Over time, I believe all rollups will transition to zk (and existing zk rollups will need to redo their tech stack), in order to finalize Ethereum once per slot. But that is more than 5 years away.”
Earlier in 2024, investment manager VanEck predicted that Ethereum’s layer 2 scaling networks would reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion within six years.
Conclusion
Buterin anticipates that improvements in interoperability and upcoming developments in layer 2 networks will revolutionize the way we interact with Ethereum, with a transition to zk-rollups expected in the coming years.
In the meantime, innovations in the EIPs promise to simplify and optimize the Ethereum ecosystem.
