Ethereum (ETH) is undergoing a fundamental scaling shift that threatens to make generic Layer 2 tokens obsolete, as Vitalik Buterin's recent acknowledgment that the original rollup-centric roadmap needs revision has triggered a reassessment of the entire L2 investment thesis among cryptocurrency market observers on CoinMarketCap forums.
What Happened: L1 Scaling Undercuts L2 Value
The shift became apparent after Buterin signaled on Feb. 3 that Ethereum's mainnet is now scaling rapidly enough to diminish the need for generic L2 solutions.
Forum contributor 0xVL called the development "fascinating to see in real-time," noting that the rollup-centric roadmap "was essentially gospel for years."
The user pointed to the upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade pushing gas limits toward 200 million and L1 fees stabilizing under $0.50 as key factors eroding the original L2 narrative.
Another contributor, MonoCoin, highlighted the economic imbalance between L2s and the Ethereum mainnet. Base reportedly generated over $75 million last year while paying Ethereum approximately $1.52 million in fees.
That represents a 98% profit margin for the L2. Proposed changes under EIP-7918 would establish a price floor forcing L2s to contribute more to the base layer.
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Why It Matters: Specialization or Extinction
Forum analysts broadly agree that L2s face a Darwinian reckoning unless they offer differentiated features the mainnet cannot provide.
CryptoEmpressX summarized the new reality: "Ethereum isn't killing L2s, it's forcing them to evolve." The user noted that with rollup precompiles enabling direct L1 connections, L2s must now deliver capabilities like privacy, specialized virtual machines, or novel application types to justify their existence.
Contributor Maigoro identified potential winners as L2s with high user activity, strong total value locked, and established ecosystems in DeFi, gaming, or social applications.
Copy-paste chains without differentiation "will bleed slowly as capital consolidates," the user wrote.
The outlook for L2 tokens drew particular skepticism. User 0xVL argued that without clear fee-burn or revenue-capture mechanisms, most governance tokens are "just fancy air" and predicted a "massive Darwinian wipeout of generic L2 tokens by the end of 2026."
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