According to U.Today, Justin Bons, founder and CIO at Cyber Capital, has voiced significant concerns regarding Ethereum's current approach to scaling. Bons argues that the emphasis on Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions, such as Arbitrum, has resulted in fragmentation, negatively impacting user experience and dividing social capital. He believes that developers are now more focused on pursuing L2 grant programs rather than attracting users, which has shifted priorities and led to perverse incentives. Venture capitalists, developers, and influencers are more invested in their L2 solutions than in Ethereum itself, according to Bons.

Bons asserts that the real solution lies in scaling Ethereum at the base layer (L1). However, he notes that the leadership of the blockchain has been hesitant to adopt this approach. He suggests that moving towards L1 scaling could significantly affect the equity and token prices of sidechains, which rely on Ethereum not scaling at the base layer. Bons highlights that the current focus on L2 scaling has led to a fragmented ecosystem, deteriorating user experience, and misaligned incentives among stakeholders.

Despite Bons' criticisms, Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin remains a strong advocate for Layer-2 solutions. Buterin acknowledges that without L2s, Ethereum's competitors might have captured a larger market share. However, he also believes that if scaling had occurred at the base layer to meet demand, the impact of these competitors would have been minimized. Buterin is optimistic about the future of L2 solutions, anticipating that cross-L2 interoperability challenges will soon be resolved, leading to a smoother user experience across the network. He continues to commend projects like Arbitrum and Optimism for their advancements and looks forward to further progress with the introduction of zk-EVM rollups.