Vitalik publicly praises Base and slaps Polygon? Infighting within the Ethereum Layer 2 family

This week, the Ethereum Foundation transferred 654 million USD worth of ETH to the ecosystem, triggering a review of developer compensation and transparency, leading to the resignation of core developers. Vitalik Buterin praised Base for doing things the right way, and Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal issued a warning about Ethereum Layer 2 after taking over as CEO of the foundation.

Vitalik praises Base igniting Ethereum Layer2 factional disputes

(Source: L2Beat)

The Ethereum scaling architecture has undergone a transition from a technical sidebar to political economy, during which Vitalik Buterin praised Base for “doing things the right way.” A few weeks ago, Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal took on the role of CEO of the Polygon Foundation and issued a warning about the “existential” direction of Ethereum Layer 2.

The issue that emerges from competing visions is whether Ethereum will standardize how Layer 2 earns and settles value, or whether it will watch liquidity split into parallel systems that bypass the mainnet instead of going through it. This tension materializes in three developments in mid-2025. On June 11, Nailwal took over leadership of the Polygon Foundation during a strategic reset, positioning the network as more independent from Ethereum with a rollup-centric orthodox view.

Polygon released AggLayer v0.3 on June 23, advancing chain-agnostic interoperability with Polygon PoS. The PoS was originally planned to connect by the end of the third quarter, but as of the time of publication, it has not yet been realized. In September, Buterin publicly supported Base, which again sparked debates about whether Ethereum's leadership supports specific Layer 2s, intensifying earlier frictions when Nailwal questioned the low recognition of Ethereum core developers and warned that anti-Layer 2 sentiment could undermine the social structure of the ecosystem.

Vitalik's public praise for Base is not coincidental. As a Layer 2 on Ethereum launched by a CEX, Base fully adheres to the “good Layer 2 citizenship” standards advocated by the Ethereum Foundation: regulated fraud or validity proofs, reliance on Ethereum for data availability, and alignment with emerging standards for light clients and shared ordering. In contrast, Polygon's AggLayer seeks chain-agnostic shared liquidity, positioning its network adjacent to the Ethereum aggregation orthodoxy, rather than internally. Its proof-of-stake chain is migrating towards zkEVM validium integration, which utilizes alternative data availability layers.

Three Major Events in the Differentiation of the Ethereum Layer 2 Camp:

June 11: Nailwal takes over as CEO of the Polygon Foundation, declaring independence from Ethereum's official roadmap.

June 23: Polygon released AggLayer v0.3, advancing chain-agnostic interoperability but delaying connections.

September: Vitalik publicly supports Base, triggering controversy over sides and concerns about ecological division.

Base and Arbitrum profit dominate Polygon marginalization

L2BEAT's data shows that Arbitrum and Base occupy the largest share of value secured in Ethereum Layer 2, with OP Mainnet and Linea following closely behind. In terms of total value locked or transaction activity, Polygon zkEVM is significantly smaller than its proof-of-stake chains. The Dune sequencer profit dashboard indicates that, after deducting Layer 1 data costs, Base and Arbitrum generate most of the net sequencer revenue, with Base being one of the largest profit sources until the end of summer 2025.

This unequal distribution of profits reveals the harsh reality of the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem. Vitalik's 2025 roadmap comments mainly focus on simplification, mainnet resilience (including privacy improvements), and a Layer 2 user experience that relies more on Layer 1 security guarantees. The guide establishes what the Ethereum leadership considers to be “good Layer 2 citizenship”: regulatory fraud or validity proofs, reliance on Ethereum for data availability, and alignment with emerging standards for light clients and shared ordering.

Base fully meets these standards and has received praise from Vitalik. Arbitrum also fundamentally adheres to these principles, thus maintaining a good ecological status. In contrast, Polygon's AggLayer pursues chain-agnostic shared liquidity, and this “independence” makes it gradually drift away from Ethereum's orthodox path. Although this strategy may create a unique market position for Polygon, it also means potential loss of core support from the Ethereum ecosystem.

From a business perspective, Base is backed by the largest compliant exchange in North America, boasting a vast user base and distribution channels. Any user of the exchange can seamlessly use Base, and this user acquisition advantage is hard for other Layer 2 solutions to match. Arbitrum, on the other hand, has established a thriving DeFi ecosystem thanks to its technological leadership and early advantages. Although Polygon held an important position in the early Layer 2 wars, its market share is being eroded as competition intensifies and strategic differences emerge.

Three Future Paths of Ethereum Layer2

In the next 6 to 12 months, it will be tested whether Ethereum can standardize the value flow between competitive Layer 2 architectures. In a soft adjustment scenario with a 50% to 60% probability, as blob compression and data availability improve and stabilize costs, the Ethereum mainnet will capture 25% to 40% of the total fee revenue from Layer 2. Base and Arbitrum retain 60% to 70% of the Layer 2 net profits, and the diffusion of the OP Stack through the CEX's entry infrastructure maintains Base's distribution advantage.

In a fragmented scenario with a probability of 20% to 25%, as activities shift to non-Ethereum DA layers (including validiums and alternative availability services), the data availability revenue performance of the Ethereum mainnet is poor. Due to competitive liquidity centers (such as AggLayer, OP Superchain, and application-specific ZK rollups) dispersing users across incompatible standards, Layer 1 only accounts for 15% to 25% of total Layer 2 fees. In this context, Polygon has gained attention through chain-agnostic routing, as the migration to proof of stake on AggLayer has created a parallel liquidity center that is partially decoupled from Ethereum's social consensus mechanism.

Under the Ethereum prioritization specification, the re-convergence probability is between 20% and 25%. This is driven by a more robust Layer2 minimalism achieved through the use of lightweight clients, fault and validity proofs, and shared ordering. With the tightening of infrastructure standards, the mainnet will account for 35% to 50% of the total Layer2 fees. Base and Arbitrum integrate over 70% of the profit share of Layer2, while OP Stack standardization and cross-Rollup bridging reduce the friction for users transferring assets between chains.

Three Future Scenarios for Ethereum Layer 2:

Soft Adjustment (50-60%): Mainnet receives 25-40% Layer 2 fees, Base and Arbitrum retain 60-70% profit.

Fragmentation (20-25%): The mainnet only receives 15-25% of the fees, with Polygon AggLayer rising as a parallel hub.

Re-convergence (20-25%): The mainnet receives 35-50% of the fees, OP Stack standardization, with Base and Arbitrum leading.

Péter Szilágyi Resigns Amid Governance Crisis

This week, the Ethereum Foundation transferred $654 million worth of ETH to the Ethereum ecosystem, sparking a rigorous examination of its developers' compensation, transparency, and leadership, ultimately leading to the public resignation of core developer Péter Szilágyi. The Polygon AggLayer upgrade is facing release delays and network instability issues, intensifying the debate regarding Layer 2 coordination, fragmentation, and the Foundation's support for external Layer 2s.

These developments, along with the volatility of the POL token migration, the ongoing struggle to balance the centralization of the mainnet with the sovereignty of Layer 2, and the reaction to the early executive restructuring of the foundation, have added new urgency to the controversies surrounding Ethereum's future direction and the sustainable growth of its expanding ecosystem. Szilágyi's resignation is particularly noteworthy, as he is one of the core developers of the Ethereum Geth client, which is the most widely used node software for Ethereum. His departure reflects developers' dissatisfaction with the governance model of the Ethereum Foundation.

Nailwal publicly criticized the leadership of the Ethereum network when he took over as CEO of the Polygon Foundation, emphasizing that its community has “turned into a circus.” Geth client developer Péter Szilágyi stated that the success of projects on the ETH network depends on a few venture capital funds and their close ties with a small group around Vitalik Buterin. This criticism points to the centralization issues within the Ethereum ecosystem: while the technology is decentralized, resource allocation and strategic direction heavily rely on decisions made by a core small circle.

From an investment perspective, by mid-2026, the profit concentration of sequencers, blob utilization rates, and AggLayer adoption metrics will clarify which path the ecosystem follows and whether loyalty to Ethereum becomes a measurable economic parameter rather than a social assumption. Monitoring AggLayer connection milestones and the progress of the proof-of-stake migration provides leading indicators for this situation. Builders optimizing distribution face pragmatic calculations, where OP Stack and Base infrastructure win recent user acquisition through streamlined entry and Layer2 to Layer2 liquidity routing.