Layer-2s for Mass Adoption: What's Next After Ethereum Scaling?

Layer 2 networks have significantly scaled Ethereum’s network by processing transactions off-chain, which increases throughput and reduces congestion on the main Ethereum blockchain. They enable Ethereum to handle many more transactions per second (TPS), reduce gas fees, and maintain the security and decentralization inherited from Ethereum’s Layer 1. Now that this has been achieved, the question is what comes next?

The current moment represents a major turning point for Web3. The successful rollout of a vibrant ecosystem of Layer-2s like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base has solved the fundamental problem of high fees and slow transaction times on Ethereum. Arbitrum maintains a $2.75 billion total value locked (TVL) as of November 2025, while Base holds $4.2 billion in TVL, and the OP Mainnet has $277 million in TVL, according to DeFiLlama.

This article will explore what’s next for Layer-2 networks. Now that the technical problem of scaling is largely solved, we will look at the new challenges and opportunities that L2s face on the road to mass adoption.

The New Challenge: User Experience and Onboarding

The Problem

While L2s have made crypto cheap and fast, the user experience is still far too complex for the average person. The complexity doesn’t end with low fees. Users must understand which L2 they’re using, how to bridge assets, which tokens to hold for gas, and how to recover accounts if they lose access. This cognitive overhead prevents mainstream adoption despite the technical improvements.

The Next Frontier: Abstraction

The next major wave of innovation will be about abstracting away this complexity. zkSync is prioritizing functionality, releasing tools like Account Abstraction to serve users and developers.

Account Abstraction through ERC-4337 enables the creation of smart contract wallets, which permit more user-friendly experiences with features such as social recovery to regain a crypto wallet with help from friends instead of seed phrases, and paying for gas fees with any token. Smart wallets are evolving to support crypto swapping without the user’s knowledge of what’s happening under the hood.

The Superchain Vision

Optimism pioneered the Superchain concept, aiming to create a network of interoperable chains using its OP Stack, allowing multiple projects, including Base, to build their own L2s while benefiting from shared liquidity and security. The Superchain vision aims to create a network of interoperable L2s that feel like a single seamless chain to the user. A user won’t have to know or care which L2 they are on.

Optimism Superchain. Source: Optimism Superchain explorer

This interoperability extends beyond simple asset bridging. Optimism’s Superchain enables cross-chain message passing, shared sequencing, and unified governance, creating an experience where switching between chains feels as natural as navigating between pages on a website.

The Battle for Users: L2s as Competing Ecosystems

From Technology to Distribution

The competition between L2s is no longer just about who has the best technology; it is now a battle for users, developers, and applications. Base has emerged as the biggest success story of 2024-2025, overtaking both Arbitrum and Optimism in several key metrics, now dominating Layer 2 activity with 55% of transaction volume across all L2s.

Technical specifications matter less than network effects. An L2 with slightly slower transaction speeds but a thriving ecosystem of applications and users will attract more developers than one with superior technology but thin liquidity. We’re witnessing this play out in real-time as Base leverages Coinbase’s massive user base to dominate transaction volume despite not having technical advantages over competitors.

The Rise of Niche L2s

We are seeing the emergence of specialized L2s designed for specific use cases. Arbitrum’s growth isn’t limited to DeFi, with TreasureDAO cultivating a gaming plus NFT ecosystem, and Arbitrum Orbit enabling Layer 3 chain deployment. Gaming-focused chains such as Immutable X optimize for NFT minting and trading, while social media applications benefit from chains optimized for high-frequency, low-value transactions.

This specialization allows L2s to differentiate beyond general-purpose computing. Gaming chains can sacrifice some decentralization for lower latency, while financial applications prioritize security and finality. The modular blockchain thesis suggests this specialization will continue to accelerate.

The Role of Real-World Onboarding

Base’s success stems from seamless integration with Coinbase’s massive user base, providing a steady flow of users who can easily onboard to Layer 2 without complex bridging. The L2s that will win long-term will be the ones that can build the best bridges to the real world and onboard the next wave of mainstream users. This includes providing simple ways to buy crypto using familiar payment methods

Coinbase’s advantage with Base demonstrates that distribution channels matter more than slight technical differences. Projects with access to existing user bases, whether through centralized exchanges, wallet providers, or traditional fintech apps, can onboard users who’ve never touched crypto before directly onto L2s, bypassing the complexity of the Ethereum mainnet entirely.

The End Game: A World of Many Chains, One Experience

The Modular Blockchain Thesis

The future is not a single blockchain that does everything, but a modular stack, with a secure base layer like Ethereum and a vibrant ecosystem of specialized Layer-2s and Layer-3s built on top. Ethereum serves as the settlement and data availability layer, while L2s handle execution, and L3s can provide application-specific optimizations.

This modular architecture allows each layer to optimize for different properties. Ethereum maximizes security and decentralization, L2s balance security with performance, and L3s can make aggressive trade-offs for specific applications. The result is a system that’s more performant and flexible than any monolithic blockchain could be.

The User Experience: Invisible Complexity

For the end user, this complex, modular world will feel like a single, simple, and fast internet of value. Users will be able to move seamlessly between different applications and chains without even knowing it.

The vision is that complexity becomes invisible. A user might mint an NFT on Base, swap tokens on Arbitrum, and lend assets on Optimism, all within a single interface that abstracts away the underlying infrastructure. Chain-agnostic wallets and intent-based systems will route transactions automatically to whichever L2 offers the best execution.

Interoperability Infrastructure

Bridges like LayerZero and Chainlink CCIP enable asset hops from Arbitrum to zkSync. This cross-chain infrastructure is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with instant finality and minimal fees. As interoperability improves, the distinction between different L2s becomes less relevant to users.

The development of shared sequencing and atomic cross-chain transactions will further blur the lines between chains. Eventually, users won’t consciously choose an L2; their wallet will automatically route transactions based on cost, speed, and liquidity considerations.

Chainlink’s CCIP. Source: Chainlink

Scaling Metrics Demonstrate Maturity

The numbers validate that L2s have achieved their primary mission. Arbitrum boasted 1.37 million daily active wallets in early November 2025, with over 70% of Layer 2 payments made with stablecoins instead of ETH. This stablecoin dominance indicates that L2s are being used for actual commerce and transactions, not just speculation.

Layer 2s process up to 14 million daily transactions with $39 billion total value locked across Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base. These volumes exceed many traditional financial networks, demonstrating that L2s have achieved the scale necessary for mainstream applications.

Conclusion

With the scaling problem solved, the focus for L2s has shifted to user experience, onboarding, and the competition for ecosystems. The technical infrastructure is in place. Transaction costs have fallen from tens of dollars to fractions of a cent. Throughput has increased from fifteen transactions per second to thousands. Finality times have dropped from minutes to seconds. The next challenge isn’t technical; it’s social and economic.

The success of Layer-2s has laid the foundation for the mass adoption of Web3. The next few years will be about building the applications and the user experiences that can bring the first billion users on-chain. The L2s that prioritize user experience over technical maximalism, that build bridges to the real world over appealing to crypto natives, and that enable seamless cross-chain experiences over fragmented ecosystems, will be the ones that succeed.

FAQ

What is a Layer-2 network?
A Layer-2 network is a secondary protocol built on top of a Layer-1 blockchain (like Ethereum) to increase scalability and reduce transaction costs. It processes most transactions off-chain and submits only final proofs or summaries to the main chain, thus reducing congestion and accelerating throughput.

What is account abstraction?
Account abstraction is a technique that generalizes the transaction validation logic on Ethereum, allowing accounts (smart contracts or externally owned accounts) to control how transactions are authorized and executed.

What is the Superchain?
The Superchain is a concept referring to a unified Layer-2 environment where multiple Layer-2 chains interoperate seamlessly while leveraging Ethereum’s security. It aims to create a highly scalable, interconnected ecosystem of Layer-2 solutions that combine throughput, composability, and cross-chain communication to support mass adoption of decentralized applications.​

Which Layer-2 is the best?
The best Layer-2 depends on use case criteria such as speed, security, decentralization, and developer ecosystem. Leading Layer-2s in 2025 include Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync, and Polygon zkEVM.​

Are Layer-2s as secure as Ethereum?
Layer-2s inherit security from Ethereum to varying degrees. Optimistic and zk-rollups submit fraud or validity proofs on-chain, anchoring security to Layer-1. However, some Layer-2s, especially sidechains or state channels, rely on their own consensus mechanisms and can be less secure. Security depends on the mechanisms used and decentralization.