Ethereum L2s Are About to Hit a Wall: Polynomial Co-Founder
Gautham Santhosh, the co-founder of the decentralized protocol Polynomial, believes Ethereum Layer 2s are about to hit a brick wall.
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Layer 2s – solutions designed to help the Ethereum mainnet process transactions faster and cheaper – face challenges of their own.
In a post shared on X, Santhosh noted that around 55% of all blob space (a special type of data storage for L2s) is consumed by just two chains. Meanwhile, dozens of L2s are competing for blob space to process transactions.
Analyzing daily data and fees, the Polynomial co-founders highlighted fee spikes during trading hours, airdrops, and Layer 2 launch operations.
Despite the upcoming Ethereum Pectra upgrade, challenges will remain, according to Santhosh. While Pectra will double the blob space to six units, at current growth rates, Layer 2s may hit their maximum capacity by May 2025.
Santhosh added that no amount of L2 optimization can fix this fundamental bottleneck. He also warned that Pectra’s improvement will only provide a short-term solution, lasting months rather than years.
As mid-term and long-term solutions, Santhosh pointed to PeerDAS implementation and advanced DA (data availability) scaling. However, these improvements need to arrive before L2s hit their limits.
PeerDAS (Peer-to-Peer Data Availability Sampling) is a method for distributing the task of verifying transaction data across many nodes, improving network speed and efficiency. Advanced DA Scaling, on the other hand, focuses on enhancing how transaction data is stored and accessed to support increased activity without slowing down.
Finally, Santhosh argued that the existing problems show Ethereum L2s are being actively used. However, he cautioned that users may turn to other solutions if these issues aren’t resolved.
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