V神 Discusses New Pathways for Ethereum L2: Moving Beyond the "Brand Sharding" Narrative to Focus on Unique Value and Native Rollup Precompiles

Recently, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin (V神) published a deeply reflective and thought-provoking tweet, reevaluating the original vision and future trajectory of Layer 2 solutions. His core assertion hits home: as Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1) continues to successfully scale, Layer 2 (L2) must go beyond the single narrative of "scaling sharding" and seek its own unique value proposition. This is not a rejection of L2 but a crucial "cognitive upgrade"!

### 1. Reflection: Why Does the "Original Narrative" of L2 Need Updating?
V神 points out that two realities are changing the game:
- First, the progress of L2 towards higher security levels (such as fully decentralized ordering) is slower and more difficult than expected;
- Second, Ethereum L1’s scaling achievements are significant, with fees greatly reduced and future gas limits expected to continue rising.

This means the initial core assumption—that L2 was primarily "Ethereum brand sharding" aimed at solving scaling issues—has loosened. If L1 is now cheap and fast enough, then the "value-add" of L2 must shift from "a cheaper Ethereum" to "a better Ethereum with unique capabilities." V神 emphasizes that some projects, due to technical or regulatory reasons, may never pursue full Rollup status, and that’s acceptable because the ecosystem needs diversity.

### 2. New Roadmap: A List of Differentiated Values for L2
So, what should future L2s build? V神 sketches a clear "value map" for developers:
- **Dedicated features and privacy:** For example, non-EVM virtual machines designed around privacy or specific application scenarios.
- **Extreme professional optimization:** Deep customization for applications like gaming, social media, AI, or high-frequency trading, achieving ultra-low latency or throughput that L1 cannot provide.
- **Innovative mechanism design:** Built-in decentralized oracles, dispute resolution systems, or other functions that go beyond pure computation verification. The key shift is moving from "how much like Ethereum" to "what does it provide that Ethereum doesn’t." At the same time, V神 advocates for building more secure, seamless cross-chain interoperability through technologies like "native Rollup precompiles," enabling L2 to innovate freely while maintaining a strong connection to Ethereum.

### 3. zkSync in Practice: Leading the "Post-Scaling Era"
When we examine zkSync through V神’s new framework, we find it is not just recently shifting; its ecosystem layout has long been aligned with this future, even leading the way.
- **Privacy and compliance as core capabilities:** This is precisely the top "dedicated feature" on V神’s list. zkSync’s enterprise-grade privacy chain solution, Prividium, has made verifiable privacy and compliance capabilities a reality for institutions. This aligns deeply with the trend of "regulatory-friendly innovation," forming its broadest moat.
- **Deep focus on high performance and specialized scenarios:** Its Atlas upgrade and elastic application chain network are infrastructure built to support applications requiring "truly extreme scalability" and "ultra-low latency," such as on-chain order book trading. This surpasses general-purpose scaling and enters the realm of providing optimal solutions for vertical markets.
- **Mature ecosystem and governance loop:** zkSync has long moved beyond the label of "fast L2." Its thriving DApp ecosystem and economic model, which deeply ties on-chain revenue to token value, demonstrate it is a mature ecosystem capable of creating and capturing intrinsic value—not just a simple transaction channel.

### Summary: From "Scaling Ethereum" to "Enriching the Ethereum Universe"
V神’s thinking signals that Layer 2 competition has entered the second half.
The first half was about executing Ethereum transactions faster and cheaper;
The decisive factor in the second half will be the ability to create unique user value and capture vertical markets.

For zkSync, its long-term value is no longer just about how much load it takes off Ethereum, but about how it introduces new possibilities, users, and asset classes through privacy chains, high-performance application chains, and an active consumer ecosystem—possibilities that previously did not exist. This positioning allows it to avoid the homogenized price wars with scaled L1s and instead sail toward a broader, more promising blue ocean: becoming a core hub connecting the traditional world with the crypto economy, balancing innovation and compliance, and serving both the masses and institutions.

Therefore, V神’s reflection is not a challenge to zkSync but an authoritative endorsement of its established strategy. While the industry is still debating a shift, zkSync’s "second curve" has already been mapped out and is entering an accelerated implementation phase.