Polygon CEO Marc Boiron sparked a heated debate recently when he argued that layer-3 networks are unnecessary for scaling Ethereum and only serve to drain value from the mainnet. Boiron stated that Polygon Labs, a layer-2 scaling network, does not utilize layer 3s because they aren’t required for scaling existing networks. He asserted that layer-3s exist solely to divert value away from Ethereum and onto the layer-2s they are built upon.
Boiron’s comments were met with opposition, with one individual suggesting that layer-2s are, Valuable on Ethereum. Boiron partially agreed but emphasized that he doesn’t consider layer-2 value to be the same as Ethereum value. He argued that if all layer-3s settled to one layer-2, Ethereum would capture almost no value, thereby jeopardizing its security. He also made it clear that Polygon does not prohibit the building of layer-3s on any platform, including Polygon networks. The company’s objective is not to extract all value onto its own networks but to share a fair portion with Ethereum.
Boiron reiterated that Polygon’s mission is to scale Ethereum using parallelization of the EVM and privacy measures. According to him, layer-3s are not aligned with this mission. Layer-3 protocols are designed to support application-specific decentralized applications (DApps) and offer various solutions for scaling, performance, interoperability, customization, and costs. Some notable players in the layer-3 ecosystem include Orbs, Xai, zkSync Hyperchains, and the recently launched Degen Chain on Arbitrum Orbit. Despite these developments, the layer-3 sector remains relatively small, with only four tokens listed on CoinGecko.
Peter Haymond, the senior partnership manager at Offchain Labs, argued that layer-3s offer several advantages without siphoning value from Ethereum. These advantages include lower costs for native bridging from layer-2 rather than layer-1, cheaper on-chain proofs, customizable gas tokens, and specialized state transition functions. Patrick McCorry, a researcher at the Arbitrum Foundation, expressed surprise at Boiron’s stance. McCorry believes that layer-3s are a logical choice, particularly since they enable layer-2 to become a settlement layer and rely on Ethereum as a global ordering service and final arbiter of settlements.
Mert Mumtaz, the CEO of Helus Labs, seemed to support Boiron’s viewpoint in a separate post, describing layer-3s as essentially centralized servers settling on other centralized servers (layer-2s) controlled by multisigs. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin initially initiated the layer-3 debate in late 2022 when he proposed that layer-3s should serve a distinct purpose by providing customized functionality. He argued that adding a third layer to the blockchain only makes sense if it offers something different from what layer-2s already provide.
Polygon’s mission is clear: scale Ethereum using parallelization and privacy measures. Layer-3s don’t align with that mission.
The layer-3 sector is still relatively small with only four tokens listed on CoinGecko. Maybe Boiron has a point about their limited impact.
Layer-3s should serve a distinct purpose, according to Vitalik Buterin. They need to offer something different from layer-2s.
Finally someone is speaking up against layer-3 networks! They are just draining value from Ethereum
Layer-2s are valuable, but they are not the same as Ethereum value. Boiron is right!
Overall, such debates show the richness of the blockchain ecosystem and the various perspectives that fuel innovation. It’ll be exciting to see how this discussion evolves and what ultimately becomes of layer-3 networks in the Ethereum scaling landscape.