Since pivoting to a layer 2-centric approach, the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem has relied heavily on L2 solutions to scale. However, these solutions are struggling to compete effectively, especially under pressure from alternatives like Solana (SOL). During the recent meme coin craze, Solana attracted much of the activity due to its advantages: low fees, high transaction speed, and user-friendliness.

To understand the challenges, it’s essential to examine why L2 solutions have not demonstrated the scalability and cost advantages that were widely anticipated.

Why meme projects favor Solana over Ethereum L2s

Meme projects have significantly contributed to the recent surge in market activity. These projects favor Solana for several reasons beyond user-friendliness:

• Low fees: Solana’s low transaction costs make it ideal for fee-sensitive applications like memecoins.
• High speed: Solana’s multithreaded architecture enables high throughput, ensuring seamless user experiences.
• Better developer experience: Solana’s tools and ecosystem are optimized for ease of use, attracting developers and projects.

Why is scalability important?

Scalability is fundamentally measured by the number of transactions a blockchain can process. A highly scalable blockchain can handle more TXs while offering lower fees, making it crucial for widespread adoption and maintaining a seamless user experience.

This is especially important for grassroots projects like meme coins, many of which are short-lived and highly fee-sensitive. Without scalability, these projects cannot thrive, and users will migrate to platforms that offer better efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Why Ethereum L2s aren’t up to the challenge

Architectural limitations of Ethereum. Ethereum has long faced scalability issues, and L2 rollups are its primary solution to these problems. L2s operate as independent blockchains that process transactions off-chain while posting transaction results and proofs back to Ethereum’s mainnet. They inherit Ethereum’s security, making them a promising scaling approach.

However, Ethereum’s original design poses inherent challenges. Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, has admitted that “Ethereum was never designed for scalability.” One of the key limitations is the lack of multithreading in the Ethereum Virtual Machine. The EVM, which processes transactions, is strictly single-threaded, meaning it can handle only one transaction at a time. In contrast, Solana’s multithreaded architecture allows it to process multiple transactions simultaneously, significantly increasing throughput.

L2s inheriting Ethereum’s limitations. Virtually all L2 solutions inherit Ethereum’s single-threaded EVM design, which results in low efficiency. For instance, Arbitrum: With a targeted gas limit of 7 million per second and each coin transfer costing 21,000 gas, Arbitrum can handle about 333 simple transactions per second. More complex smart contract calls consume even more gas, significantly reducing capacity. Optimism: With a gas limit of 5 million per block and a block time of 2 seconds, Optimism can handle only about 119 simple transfers per second. Gas-intensive operations further reduce this capacity.

Unstable fees. Another major issue with Ethereum and its L2 solutions is unstable fees during periods of high network activity. For applications relying on low and stable fees, this is a critical drawback. Projects like meme coins are especially fee-sensitive, making Ethereum-based L2s less attractive.

Lack of interoperability between L2s. The scalability argument for having multiple L2s only holds if contracts on different L2s can interact freely. However, rollups are essentially independent blockchains, and accessing data from one rollup to another is as challenging as cross-chain communication. This lack of interoperability significantly limits the potential of L2 scalability.

What can L2s do to further scale?

Embed features to enhance interoperability. Ethereum L1 needs to do more to support interoperability among L2s. For example, the recent ERC-7786: Cross-Chain Messaging Gateway is a step in the right direction. While it doesn’t fully resolve the interoperability issue, it simplifies communication between L2s and L1, laying the groundwork for further improvements.

Architectural updates: Diverge from the existing L1 design. To compete with multithreaded blockchains like Solana, L2s must break free from Ethereum’s single-threaded EVM design and adopt parallel execution. This may require a complete overhaul of the EVM, but the potential scalability gains make it a worthwhile endeavor.

Future milestones

Ethereum’s L2 solutions face significant challenges in delivering the scalability and cost-effectiveness that applications like meme coins demand. To stay competitive, the ecosystem must address fundamental architectural limitations, enhance interoperability, and embrace innovations in blockchain design. Only by doing so can Ethereum L2s achieve the scalability needed to support widespread adoption and fend off competition from emerging blockchains like Solana.

Laurent Zhang

Laurent Zhang is the president and founder of Arcology Network, a revolutionizing Ethereum layer-2 solution with the first-ever EVM-equivalent, multithreaded rollup—offering unparalleled performance and efficiency for developers building the next generation of decentralized applications. With an executive leadership and innovation background, Laurent holds a degree from Oxford Brookes University. Laurent’s professional journey includes over a decade of experience in science, research, engineering, and leadership roles. After graduating in 2005, he joined MKS Instruments as an Algorithm Engineer. From 2010 to 2012, he worked as a research engineer at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, followed by a position as a research scientist at Baker Hughes from 2012 to 2014. He then served as vice president of engineering at Quikflo Health between 2016 and 2018. Since 2017, Laurent has been the president of Arcology Network, being a visionary of a future where blockchain technology reaches its full potential, offering unmatched scalability, efficiency, and innovation.

Tron founder Justin Sun has been heavily offloading his ETH holdings with Ethereum price crashing 17% following the rejection at $4,000. Over the past 7 days, Sun has offloaded another 50% of his holdings worth $143 million. Market analysts predict that ETH price could further take a dip below $3,000 once again before resuming upside momentum.

Tron’s Justin Sun on ETH Selling Spree

Justin Sun is on a massive Ethereum selling spree since the coin resumed its upward journey after Donald Trump’s election win. This continued even until last week, when Tron founder offloaded $143 million worth of ETH causing Ethereum price to tank over 15% amid the crypto market crash.

Blockchain analytics firm Spot On Chain reported that Justin Sun redeemed 39,999 ETH (valued at $143 million) from liquid staking platforms Lido Finance and EtherFi. He subsequently deposited the entire amount into HTX.

Since November 10, as Ethereum price has trended upward, Sun has deposited a total of 108,919 ETH (worth $400 million) to HTX at an average price of $3,674. Notably, many of these deposits occurred near local price peaks.

Spot On Chain also revealed that Justin Sun currently has 42,904 ETH (valued at $139 million) in the process of unstaking from Lido Finance. The Tron founder might potentially send this funds to HTX later.

Ethereum Price Drop Below $3,000 Coming?

With Ethereum price losing its crucial support of $3,500, the market sentiment for the world’s largest altcoin has turned bearish. Last week, crypto market analysts turned bearish on Ethereum expecting the ETH price to drop $2,800 on selloff by whales.

Popular market analyst IncomeSharks stated that it was a “low-volume weekend,” for Ethereum following a volatile week for stocks. The analysts added that it won’t be the right time to sell.

The On-Balance Volume (OBV) indicator, a tool used to gauge buying and selling pressure, remains steady, oscillating within a channel. Recent Ethereum buyers are still in profit, providing some support for the market. However, the below chart shows that there’s still scope for Ethereum to take a dip to $3,000.

Prominent crypto analyst “I am Crypto Wolf” also highlighted a bullish outlook with a potential inverse head-and-shoulders (iHS) pattern. According to the analyst, Ethereum price chart is currently forming the “right shoulder” of the iHS continuation pattern.

This setup could provide the momentum needed to surpass the $4,000 resistance and aim for a $10,000 target by May. A breakout is anticipated by the end of January, though a retest of the $3,000 level remains a possibility before the rally takes off, he noted.

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Bhushan Akolkar

Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast with a keen understanding of financial markets. His interest in economics and finance has led him to focus on emerging Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets. He is committed to continuous learning and stays motivated by sharing the knowledge he acquires. In his free time, Bhushan enjoys reading thriller fiction novels and occasionally explores his culinary skills.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.