馃敹 L2s are not "extensions" of Ethereum
L2s do not inherit Ethereum's qualities at all.
- All major L2s can steal and censor user funds, which is not decentralized, and thus not Ethereum!
- This lie is perpetuated by L2s who are parasitically leeching off Ethereum for selfish profit.
馃敹 Most L2s will never decentralize
- Proposed solutions require L2s to sacrifice sequencer revenue, which they won鈥檛.
- For-profit companies follow their own financial incentives, as they should.
- The fault lies with Ethereum for not scaling their L1 effectively.
馃敹 Based roll-ups & sequencing could have worked
- Ethereum is now too far down the L2 path.
- Scaling the L1 would now destroy billions in L2 equity and token value, making a return impossible.
馃敹 Cui bono? ("Who benefits?")
- The incentives are skewed, with the L2 lobby being too powerful.
- Researchers are tied to L2s through tokens, equity, advisory roles, and employment, overshadowing L1 funding.
馃敹 Ethereum now facilitates centralized rent-seeking services
- Platforms like BASE allow companies like Coinbase to make hundreds of millions, while passing only a fraction of that back to Ethereum.
- The rise of BASE as the most popular L2 highlights the problem.
馃敹 Unrealistic expectations
- Expecting decentralization contradicts human history.
- L2 advocates often overestimate human nature when theorizing about crypto.
馃敹 Power corrupts
- History and politics teach us that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
- Incentives rule, and this assumption is central to all blockchains.