On May 30, Vitalik Buterin wrote: “L2 is a cultural extension of Ethereum. Ethereum is an L2-centric ecosystem, and you are free to build a sub-ecosystem with unique features while also being part of the larger Ethereum ecosystem.”

L2 is a test bed for technology, and different L2s can adjust their virtual machines (VMs) at will, as long as they can prove to Ethereum that the state transition is valid. Although most L2s use EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), more and more L2s now use alternative VMs that can write contracts in other programming languages, providing additional security, privacy, lower fees, or higher throughput.

For example, projects such as Arbitrum Stylus, Movement, and Aztec are trying different VMs. MegaETH and Paradigm are also optimizing various aspects of EVM, hoping that the L2 war will end by the end of the year and there will be fewer L2s on the market.

Each L2 has its own unique "soul", such as Polygon cooperates with mainstream companies, Optimism is interested in retroactive financing and token governance, and Metis focuses on DAO.

Future L2 will bring lower fees, faster block times, and a more optimized user experience, as well as applications built for specific VMs that cannot be implemented on the standard EVM.