Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has reiterated his stance on layer-2 decentralization, stating that he only plans to acknowledge scaling solutions at “stage 1” of his decentralization scale.

In a Sept. 12 X post , Buterin said that he takes this “seriously” and that, starting next year, he only plans to publicly mention layer-2 networks that are “stage 1+”.

He added that there “may be a short grace period for new genuinely interesting projects.”

“It doesn’t matter if I invested, or if you’re my friend; stage 1 or bust.”

Buterin said many zero-knowledge rollup teams have told him “they’re on track to be stage 1 by year-end,” and he was “excited to see that happen.” 

“The era of rollups being glorified multisigs is coming to an end. The era of cryptographic trust is upon us,” he wrote.

Vitalik: L2s that aren’t at least ‘stage 1’ are dead to me image 0

Source: Vitalik Buterin

Buterin introduced the concept of “training wheels” for Ethereum scaling rollup projects at various stages of development in 2022.

He outlined a path to layer-2 decentralization with three stages.

The first ‘stage 0’ or ‘full training wheels’ is a project that self-identifies as a rollup with all rollup transactions onchain and users being able to transact and withdraw without operator intervention.

However, there is only a simple multisignature wallet in control, and no fraud or validity proofs are required. 

Stage 1 — the minimum level that Buterin will now acknowledge — is the next step to decentralization , where layer-2s have an active fraud-proof or validity-proof scheme in place.

They should also have a multi-signature-based override mechanism, or “security council,” but with strict conditions such as a minimum of 6 of 8 signature requirement and a quorum-blocking group, which must be external to the rollup organization. Upgrades should also have a seven-day delay window. 

Related: Vitalik Buterin unveils plan to solve cross-chain L2 interoperability

The final stage on the path to layer-2 decentralization is “stage 2” or “no training wheels”. 

At this stage, no group can override the code output if the code is bug-free for projects. There is also a limited use of security councils allowed and only for clear bug cases, plus a 30-day upgrade activation delay.  

In June, several layer-2 rollup teams, including those for Linea , ZKsync, Arbitrum, and Optimism, claimed that “stage 2” full decentralization would happen in a few years.

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