Solana’s Anatoly Yakovenko Roasts Layer 2: Do We Even Need Them?
Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko is back at it again, dunking on Layer-2 rollups and questioning why they even exist. According to him, L1 blockchains—like solana—are already fast, cheap, and secure enough to handle everything, so why add extra complexity?
Yakovenko argues that L2s just introduce unnecessary risks, like fraud proofs and multi-sig upgrades, which only complicate things. Instead of building an layer 2, he suggests devs just launch a token and call it a day. He believes there’s a limited number of actually useful smart contracts, so the whole layer 2 boom is just overhyped.
Taking shots at Ethereum’s scaling model, he claims layer 2s are actually hurting Ethereum instead of helping it. By siphoning high-priority transactions away from the main chain, Yakovenko thinks they’re weakening Ethereum’s core rather than strengthening it. He’s even called layer 2 “parasitic” since they rely on Ethereum while taking value away from it.
To make things worse for Ethereum, its transaction revenue has crashed by 95% since late 2021. Yakovenko sees this as proof that layer 2 aren’t the solution—they’re part of the problem. In his view, it’s time to stop stacking layers and just make Layer-1s better instead.
What do you think—L2s are the future, or is Yakovenko spitting facts?
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