Endogenous Security and the Future of L2: How Native Rollup Reshapes Ethereum

In recent weeks, Ethereum has undergone deep reflection on the direction of scalability expansion. The core idea is a fundamental shift: from pursuing extreme growth to building a truly endogenous and secure system. Endogenous here refers to how Ethereum no longer relies on separate external layers but integrates scalability capabilities directly into the core protocol, creating an organic, coherent, and censorship-resistant ecosystem at a fundamental level.

Vitalik Buterin’s public reflection on the scalability roadmap marks an important turning point. His blunt statement that the scalability strategies set five years ago are no longer fully applicable was initially interpreted by the market as a rejection of Layer 2. However, a more accurate understanding reveals that Vitalik is not dismissing L2’s value but proposing a comprehensive restructuring: L1 should revert to functioning as the most secure settlement layer, while L2 pursues meaningful differentiation and technical specialization, not just chain multiplication.

L2 at a Crossroads: From Extreme Expansion to Deeper Integration

In the previous cycle, Layer 2 indeed saved Ethereum from a scalability crisis. When gas fees reached tens of dollars per transaction, L2 offered a practical solution. The division of labor was clear: L1 handled security and data availability, while L2 aimed for extreme expansion and minimal costs.

However, reality has become more complex than initial projections. Data from L2BEAT shows that although the number of L2s has surpassed hundreds, growth in quantity does not align with progress in decentralization. Most Rollups are still stuck in the “Training Wheels Architecture”—relying on centralized operators and human intervention to ensure security. The evaluation framework of L2BEAT itself reflects this dilemma:

• Stage 0: Fully centralized control
• Stage 1: Limited dependence on centralized operators
• Stage 2: Fully decentralized

Worryingly, some L2s may remain forever at Stage 1 due to regulatory or business needs, relying on a security council to control upgrade capabilities. This condition turns L2 into a “secondary L1” with cross-chain bridge attributes, far from the original vision of a truly decentralized infrastructure.

Another serious structural issue is liquidity fragmentation. As Ethereum’s formerly focused traffic splintered into hundreds of chains and separate L2s, the ecosystem formed isolated islands of value. The more public chains and L2s emerge, the worse this fragmentation becomes, contradicting the true goal of expansion.

From this perspective, Vitalik’s emphasis that the next step is not more chains but deeper integration makes a lot of sense. It’s a timely correction—by leveraging security mechanisms generated by the protocol itself, not external layers, Ethereum strengthens L1’s position as the most reliable global settlement foundation.

Native Rollup: The Path Toward Truly Endogenous Ethereum

The concept gaining community attention now is “Native Rollup” or “Based Rollup”—an infrastructure that grows from within Ethereum, not dependent on external layers. The fundamental difference between Based Rollup and traditional L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism is the elimination of independent sequencers.

In Based Rollup, there is no centralized sequencer controlling transaction order. Instead, the L1 validators themselves perform sequencing, integrating Rollup verification logic directly into the Ethereum protocol. This design combines protocol-level security with extreme performance optimization previously separated between L2 and mainnet.

The most direct benefit: transactions achieve L1-level security instantly, without complex bridging. In a single Based Rollup block, users can call L1 liquidity directly, enabling atomic cross-layer transactions—long-awaited composability and synchronization.

However, the challenge is real. Following the L1 rhythm (12 seconds per slot) fully would make user experience slow. Even after transactions are packed into a block, the system still requires about 13 minutes (2 epochs) to reach Finality—secure certainty against reversion. For financial scenarios, this is too long.

An elegant solution emerges: pre-confirmation. In January 2026, the Ethereum community discussed proposals to combine pre-confirmation with Based Rollup. This hybrid structure works as follows:

1. Maintain low-latency, ordered blocks at the start of each slot
2. Generate a base block at the end of the slot for finality
3. Submit the base block to L1
4. Incorporate pre-confirmation mechanisms for cross-layer transaction synchronization

In this system, pre-confirmation means that when a transaction is submitted to L1, certain roles—like the proposer of the L1 block—provide a cryptographic commitment that the transaction will be included. This is not just a technical mechanism but a cryptographic signature verifiable as having reached an “unstoppable point” well before full Finality.

This initiative aligns with Project #4 in the Ethereum Interop roadmap: “Fast L1 Confirmation Rules.” The goal is simple yet powerful—cross-chain applications can receive strong, verifiable L1 confirmation signals within 15-30 seconds, without waiting 13 minutes for full Finality.

This mechanism does not introduce new consensus but reuses existing attester voting in each PoS system slot. When a block gathers enough and sufficiently distributed validator votes in early slots, even before Finality, it can be considered “highly unlikely to be reverted under reasonable attack models.” Tiered confirmation gives the protocol the ability to emit strong trust signals before final certainty, transforming the cross-chain ecosystem.

Three Pillars of Endogenous Ethereum Expansion in the New Era

By 2026, Ethereum is experiencing a philosophical shift: from chasing “extreme expansion” to pursuing “unity, endogenous decentralization, and fundamental security.” Clear signals emerge as major L2 solution providers express interest in exploring and adopting Native Rollup pathways, recognizing that this approach enhances consistency and synergy across the entire ecosystem.

This transformation reflects a painful but necessary evolution: from pursuing “chain multiplication” back to “protocol unity.” As Ethereum’s roadmap develops—especially with L1 continued strengthening, and Based Rollup and pre-confirmation gradually becoming reality—the previous bottlenecks are no longer the main obstacle. Instead, new, more realistic issues arise: the biggest challenge is no longer technical infrastructure but user experience at entry points and wallets.

Repeated insights from ecosystem leaders like imToken in 2025 become increasingly relevant: when infrastructure becomes transparent and invisible, the true scalability limit is defined by user interaction at the entry level. In this era, Ethereum’s expansion will focus on three more meaningful structural directions:

First, native account abstraction and lowering entry barriers
Ethereum is pushing for native Account Abstraction, where smart contract wallets become the default, fully replacing the complexity of seed phrases and traditional EOA addresses. For modern wallet users, entering Web3 will be as easy as signing up for a social media account—no more complex mnemonic phrases, no long strings of addresses prone to typos.

Second, privacy and ZK-EVM as core competitive advantages
Privacy features are no longer peripheral needs. With mature ZK-EVM technology, Ethereum will provide on-chain privacy protections necessary for commercial applications while maintaining system transparency. This will be a crucial differentiator in the competition among public blockchains—endogenous privacy security, not relying on third-layer solutions.

Third, AI agent sovereignty on-chain
By 2026, transaction initiators may no longer always be humans but autonomous AI agents. The upcoming challenge is to build trustless interaction standards: how to ensure AI agents execute user intent without third-party control? Ethereum as a decentralized settlement layer will become the most reliable arbiter in the evolving AI economy.

Reflection: From Fragmentation to Endogenous Unity

Returning to the initial question: is Vitalik truly rejecting L2? A more accurate answer is that he rejects the narrative of excessive fragmentation—L2s disconnected from the main network, each pursuing its own path without cohesion. This is not the end of the L2 era but an evolution toward a more mature architecture.

From the illusion of “sharding fragmentation,” the shift toward Based Rollup, pre-confirmation, and Native Rollup actually strengthens Ethereum L1’s position as the global trust foundation. However, it also means that only innovations rooted in Ethereum’s endogenous principles and breathing in harmony with the main network will survive and thrive in the next era of exploration. This is a fundamental transformation in how we understand blockchain scalability.