Vitalik Rethinks Ethereum Layer 2s

Author

Alpha Team
February 05, 2026

📢 Vitalik on Ethereum L2 Evolution

Initial Post on L2 Changes: On February 3rd, 2026, Vitalik Buterin posted about the changing role of layer 2 solutions in Ethereum. Slower progress toward stage 2 rollups and interoperability, combined with layer 1 scaling featuring very low fees and projected large gas limit increases in 2026, has shifted the original vision. Ethereum scaling was defined as block space backed by full Ethereum security guarantees for validity, censorship resistance, and non-reversion. He stated that “creating a 10000 TPS EVM with a multisig bridge does not constitute scaling Ethereum.” With layer 1 scaling directly, L2s shift from “branded shards” to a spectrum of connection strengths to Ethereum. Vitalik urged L2 teams to focus on unique value beyond scaling, such as privacy features, application-specific efficiency, extreme scaling, non-financial designs for social or AI uses, ultra-low latency, or integrated oracles. Projects handling ETH or Ethereum assets should reach at least stage 1 and maximize interoperability. He supported a native rollup precompile for ZK-EVM verification that upgrades with Ethereum, enabling trustless interoperability and synchronous composability.

Selected Community Responses: Several notable figures replied to the post. Namik from the MegaETH team wrote that Vitalik's points aligned closely with MegaETH's direction and approach, showing clear agreement with the emphasis on distinct value beyond generic scaling. Steven Goldfeder from Offchain Labs, the team behind Arbitrum, commented on the discussion and received pushback from other users who questioned Arbitrum's current stage status and level of interoperability in light of the ideas presented. Fede’s intern praised Ethereum's culture by stating that the willingness to publicly reassess positions and admit when earlier assumptions no longer hold demonstrated Ethereum's commitment to truth-seeking and course correction. These selected responses reflected alignment from certain projects, some defense of existing implementations, and appreciation for the ecosystem's openness to reevaluation.

Vitalik's Follow-up Post: Vitalik posted a follow-up on February 5th, 2026, to address reactions. He called repetitive EVM chains with optimistic bridges or without any bridge overdone and imagination-limiting, likening them to excessive Compound forks. He encouraged novel elements like strong privacy, application-specific optimizations, or ultra-low latency, noting layer 1 provides substantial EVM blockspace but not unlimited capacity for data-heavy uses like AI. He stressed that claims of connection to Ethereum must match technical reality. He supported deeply L1-integrated app chains, such as prediction markets handling issuance and resolution on L1 while using L2-like execution for trading. For institutional transparency, he endorsed onchain Merkle roots with STARK proofs for verifiable transparency even without full trustlessness. Vitalik concluded with two principles: bring new contributions to the ecosystem, and ensure stated Ethereum ties align with actual integration. Read More.

️ On today's Top Picks:

  1. ✌️ Kyle Samani steps down from Multicoin Capital.
  2. 🪂 Rainbow $RNBW & YO $YO airdrop today (Feb 5th).
  3. 🔮 Polymarket: ~63% chance US gov shuts down by Feb 14th.
  4. 🔍 TRM Labs raises $70M Series C led by Blockchain Capital.

Read time: ⏰ 6 minutes


Crypto News


• ⭐️ Vitalik Buterin $ETH says "...the original vision of L2s and their role in Ethereum no longer makes sense, and we need a new path"; says current L2s should identify a value other than “scaling”; be Stage 1 at minimum, & support maximum interoperability with Ethereum.

• Fidelity launches Fidelity Digital Dollar $FIDD, a US dollar-pegged stablecoin on Ethereum & Fidelity Platforms; issued by Fidelity Digital Assets.

• CME Group $CME explores launching its own 'CME Coin'; unclear if the coin would function as a stablecoin, settlement token, or something else; to soon launch “tokenized cash” solution in collaboration with Google.

• ⭐️ Kyle Samani steps down from Multicoin Capital to "take some time off and explore new areas of technology"; to remain Chairman of Forward Industries $FWDI, the largest Solana $SOL treasury company.

• Ripple $XRP integrates Hyperliquid $HYPE into Ripple Prime, its prime brokerage platform; allows institutional clients to access Hyperliquid’s onchain derivatives markets

• Binance $BNB buys 1,315 Bitcoin $BTC (~$100M), completing second batch of BTC conversion for $1B SAFU Fund; has now bought 2,630 BTC (~$200M).

• Payward (Kraken) FY 2025 Financial Results: reports $2.2B in adjusted revenue (+33% YoY) & adjusted EBITDA of $531M (+26% YoY); Kraken expected to IPO this year.

• Crypto[.]com launches OG, a prediction markets platform; to offer CFTC-regulated event contracts including sports, financial, political, cultural, and entertainment markets.

• UBS $UBS confirms plans to offer crypto access for individual clients & tokenized deposit solutions for corporates; recently named an early design partner on Stripe's upcoming Tempo blockchain.

• Bitwise to reportedly acquire staking provider Chorus One for an undisclosed amount; Chorus One currently oversees ~$2.2B in staked assets.

Alpha


• Nansen launches NX8, a tokenized Layer-1 index; issued & operated by OpenDelta; users can earn Nansen points by holding, trading, and/or liquidity providing NX8.

• N1 launches mainnet; 01 perps exchange also launches "private mainnet" & points program on N1; users can earn points by trading, liquidity providing, and/or participating in events.

• MetaMask $MASK integrates tokenized US stocks, ETFs, & commodities; available on MetaMask Mobile; powered by Ondo Global Markets.

• Zerion launches Perps Trading for Zerion Premium users; use code 'ZPERPS' for a free Zerion Premium trial; powered by Hyperliquid.

• ICYMI MegaETH $MEGA global stress test ends; to launch public mainnet on February 9th.

Airdrops


• ⭐️ Rainbow $RNBW to launch airdrop today on February 5th; Rainbow points holders will be eligible; snapshot taken on January 26th.

• ⭐️ YO $YO to launch airdrop claim today on February 5th; YO points holders will be eligible; token will be non-transferable until enabled via governance vote.

• Espresso $ESP announces tokenomics; allocates 10% of initial token supply for 'Airdrop' & 24.81% for 'Future Airdrops + Incentives'; airdrop registration is live.

• Cap $CAP to airdrop $12M cUSD to Cap Frontier program participants; $11M for Caps holders & $1M for COGs holders.

• ICYMI USDai $CHIP to launch airdrop in Q1 2026; Allo (points) Airdrop Aligned holders will be eligible; to announce ICO details soon.

Finance News


• US President Trump holds phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping; says they discussed China buying oil from the US and lifting soybean purchases to 20M metric tons.

• ⭐️ US President Trump signs bill to end partial US government shutdown; Polymarket projects ~63% chance there will be another US government shutdown by February 14th.

• Alphabet (Google) $GOOGL Q4 2025 Earnings: reports $113.9B in revenue (+18% YoY), beating expectations; reports EPS of $2.82 (+31% YoY), beating expectations.

• AMD $AMD Q4 2025 Earnings: reports $10.3B in revenue (+34% YoY), beating expectations; reports EPS of $1.53 (+40% YoY), beating expectations.

• PayPal $PYPL Q4 2025 Earnings: reports $8.7B in revenue (+4% YoY), missing expectations; reports EPS of $1.23 (+3% YoY), missing expectations.

• Galaxy $GLXY Q4 2025 Earnings: reports $10.2B in revenue (-37% YoY) (-65% QoQ), missing expectations; reports EPS of -$0.95 (-213% YoY) (-185% QoQ), beating expectations.

Security and Exploits


• Makina publishes post-mortem for recent ~1,299 $ETH exploit; covers timeline, root cause, recovery actions, and protocol changes implemented.

• ICYMI Notepad++ compromised by threat actor Lotos Blossom; attackers breached Notepad++'s hosting provider to deliver malicious updates to certain users from June to December 2025.

Token Unlocks


• Sui $SUI / ~$50M / FEB 01st
• EigenCloud $EIGEN / ~$10M / FEB 01st
• Ethena $ENA / ~$6M / FEB 02nd
• XDC Network $XDC / ~$31M / FEB 05th
• Ethena $ENA / ~$24M / FEB 05th
Sourced from Tokenomist


Funding


• ⭐️ TRM Labs raises $70M in Series C funding led by Blockchain Capital.

• Bluff raises $21M in Strategic funding led by 1kx,

• Opinion raises $20M in Pre-Series A funding from several investors.

• Kairos raises $2.5M in Seed funding led by a16z Crypto.

• Huddle raises an undisclosed amount in funding from Tandem (Offchain Labs).

The Degen Farmer

Top stablecoin yield farms of the day, more than $3,000,000 in TVL. DYOR and step up your farming game!

PROTOCOLASSETSAPY
Indigo logoIndigo (Cardano)IUSD109.97%
Spectra V2 logoSpectra V2 (Katana)YVVBUSDC94.13%
Aerodrome Slipstream logoAerodrome Slipstream (Base)MSUSDUSDC48.94%
Uniswap V3 logoUniswap V3 (Ethereum)EUROCUSDC35.92%
Hyperion logoHyperion (Aptos)SUSDEUSDC22.13%
YO Protocol logoYO Protocol (Base)USDC20.09%
Wildcat Protocol logoWildcat Protocol (Ethereum)HALALUSDT18.50%
Gains Network logoGains Network (Arbitrum)USDC17.57%
. . .

🌿 OpenEden: Tokenized Real-World Assets

🌿 What is OpenEden: OpenEden is a real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform focused on bringing regulated yield products on-chain. Its core offerings include TBILL, tokenized U.S. Treasury Bills, and USDO, a regulated yield-bearing stablecoin. OpenEden provides the infrastructure for issuing and managing compliant on-chain products, with over $200M in total value locked and partners including BNY as custodian, alongside backing from firms such as YZi Labs and Ripple.

🧩 New: Introducing PRISM: OpenEden recently announced the upcoming launch of PRISM, a tokenized multi-strategy yield portfolio developed with FalconX and Monarq Asset Management. PRISM is designed to target stable, risk-adjusted returns with low correlation to crypto prices, allocating capital across strategies such as cash-and-carry arbitrage, secured institutional lending, established on-chain yield venues, and regulated tokenized real-world assets, including U.S. Treasury–backed products. A limited pre-deposit campaign is currently open, with the full launch expected in February.

🔓 PRISM Pre-Deposit Vault

  • Total rewards of 4,700,000 $EDEN tokens
  • $50M deposit cap
  • Accepts USDO, USDC, and USDT
  • 30-day pre-deposit campaign

Rewards accrue at a fixed daily rate throughout the campaign. Deposits made earlier in the campaign may receive a proportionally larger share of incentives as the vault approaches its maximum capacity.

👉 Join the PRISM pre-deposit vault today!

. . .

That’s it for today’s edition! See you soon.

Reply

or to participate.