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Restaking và Tác Động Của EigenLayer: Cơ Hội hay Rủi Ro Mới cho DeFi trong Bối Cảnh Thị Trường Biến Động?

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DistilHub Editorial August 25, 2026 · 47 min read
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The promise of blockchain technology has long been tempered by the “scalability trilemma” – the inherent trade-off between decentralization, security, and scalability. For Ethereum, the world’s leading smart contract platform, this challenge has been particularly acute, driving an entire ecosystem of Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions. As of mid-2026, L2s are no longer a nascent experiment but the de facto execution environment for most Ethereum users. Yet, beneath the veneer of burgeoning Total Value Locked (TVL) and soaring transaction counts, a critical analysis reveals a landscape still grappling with fundamental trade-offs, centralization risks, and an economic model that, in some cases, remains reliant on token-based incentives rather than pure protocol revenue.

This in-depth analysis cuts through the hype surrounding Ethereum’s scaling narrative, examining the current state of L2s, their on-chain performance, tokenomic implications, and the inherent risks that often go unhighlighted. While L2s have undeniably delivered on throughput and reduced transaction costs, questions of true decentralization, long-term economic sustainability, and the fragmentation of the user experience persist, demanding a skeptical yet evidence-based evaluation.

Key Takeaways

  • Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem, particularly optimistic rollups like Arbitrum and Optimism, alongside Coinbase’s Base, dominates transaction activity and user engagement as of August 2026, largely superseding direct interaction with the Ethereum mainnet for everyday use.
  • Transaction fees on leading L2s have plummeted, averaging single-digit cents, making them significantly cheaper than Ethereum mainnet. This efficiency is primarily due to the Dencun upgrade in 2024, which introduced “blobs” for cheaper data availability.
  • Despite impressive growth in TVL and transaction volumes, a substantial portion of L2s, including major players, still operate with centralized sequencers, introducing single points of failure, potential for censorship, and extractable value (MEV) concerns.
  • The long-term economic sustainability of some L2 token models remains questionable, with value accrual mechanisms often indirect and heavily reliant on governance participation rather than direct protocol revenue.
  • Ethereum’s own scaling roadmap, with upgrades like Glamsterdam slated for late 2026, aims to further enhance L1 efficiency and blob capacity, intensifying the symbiotic yet competitive relationship between the mainnet and its L2s.

Market Context: Prices, Volume, Sentiment in Mid-2026

As of August 2026, the broader cryptocurrency market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, recovering from previous downturns but tempered by ongoing regulatory scrutiny and macroeconomic uncertainties. Ethereum (ETH) has demonstrated resilience, trading around $2,466.15 as of May 2026, reflecting its foundational role in the Web3 ecosystem.

The narrative around Ethereum’s scalability has firmly shifted: L2s are no longer merely “scaling solutions” but have become the primary execution layer for decentralized applications (dApps) and user interactions. This is evidenced by the dramatic reduction in Ethereum mainnet transaction fees, which have fallen by approximately 49.80% year-over-year, reaching an average of $0.2424 per transaction as of August 23, 2026. In contrast, L2 transactions typically cost single-digit cents.

However, despite the technological advancements and reduced costs, the overall Total Value Locked (TVL) across Ethereum Layer 2 networks experienced a notable contraction in mid-2026. The combined TVL of the L2 ecosystem fell to approximately $5 billion by late July 2026, marking a two-year low and erasing gains from 2024, according to data shared by The Block. This represents a roughly 50% drawdown from its 2024 peak, which had exceeded $10 billion. This decline, while significant, does not necessarily indicate a drop in user activity; rather, it suggests a market correction, increased capital efficiency, and a maturation where capital flows more cautiously. The three major networks—Optimism, Base, and Arbitrum—collectively account for approximately 96% of the entire L2 ecosystem’s TVL, highlighting a strong consolidation of market share. As of April 2026, L2BEAT tracked 73 active rollups with a combined TVL exceeding $48 billion, with the top eight networks processing over 320 transactions per second on a typical weekday. This discrepancy in TVL reporting (July 2026 vs. April 2026) suggests significant fluctuations and potentially different methodologies, underscoring the dynamic and sometimes volatile nature of L2 capital flows.

Developer sentiment remains largely positive towards L2s, with Arbitrum’s Stylus mainnet launch in September 2024, enabling smart contracts in multiple languages, signaling continued innovation and expanded developer tooling. Optimism’s Fjord network upgrade, implemented in July 2024, also aimed to reduce gas costs and improve robustness. Ethereum’s own roadmap, with upgrades like Glamsterdam (planned for Q4 2026) and Heze-Bogota (late 2026), continues to emphasize a “rollup-centric” future, where the L1 performs security and data storage, while rollups handle execution.

Deep Dive: On-Chain Data & Fundamentals of Ethereum L2s

The Persistent Scalability Trilemma

The foundational “scalability trilemma” posits that a blockchain can only achieve two of three properties—decentralization, security, and scalability—at any given time. Ethereum, prioritizing decentralization and security on its mainnet, has historically struggled with scalability, leading to high gas fees and network congestion. Layer 2 solutions emerged to address this, offloading transaction execution from the mainnet while inheriting its security guarantees.

A Taxonomy of Layer 2 Solutions

The L2 landscape is primarily dominated by “rollups,” which execute transactions off-chain and then “roll up” or batch them into a single transaction that is posted back to the Ethereum mainnet. Within rollups, two main types prevail:

  • Optimistic Rollups: These assume transactions are valid by default, allowing for faster processing. They rely on a “fraud proof” mechanism, where anyone can challenge an invalid transaction within a specific time window (typically seven days). Examples include Arbitrum and Optimism.
  • ZK-Rollups (Zero-Knowledge Rollups): These use cryptographic “validity proofs” to instantly confirm the correctness of off-chain transactions. While more computationally intensive to generate, ZK-rollups offer instant finality on the mainnet and do not require a challenge period. zkSync Era and StarkNet are prominent examples.

Other scaling approaches like Validiums and Volitions exist, offering different data availability guarantees, but rollups currently hold the lion’s share of activity and developer focus.

On-Chain Metrics & Adoption Realities

The adoption of L2s has been transformative for user experience, largely driven by significantly lower transaction costs and increased throughput. A 2026 study by Meghan Ambrosia and Bruce Mizrach, published on arXiv, measured a decline of over 95% in L2 median fees, from approximately $0.05 to $0.0015, between January 2024 and March 2026. This dramatic reduction was largely enabled by Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade in March 2024, which introduced “blob-carrying transactions” (EIP-4844), providing dedicated, cheaper data availability for rollups.

As of late August 2026, major rollups cluster in a narrow band of fees, ranging from well under a cent to a few cents for a simple transfer, with swaps and heavier contract calls costing several times that. Base, Coinbase’s rollup, is often cited as the cheapest among the large general-purpose chains, with optimistic rollups like Arbitrum One and OP Mainnet close behind. ZK-rollups such as zkSync Era, Linea, and Scroll tend to have slightly higher per-transaction costs due to the computational expense of generating validity proofs.

Specific L2 Case Studies: Successes and Challenges

  • Arbitrum (Optimistic Rollup): Arbitrum continues to be a dominant force in the L2 ecosystem. As of May 2026, it secured approximately $14.9 billion to $16.9 billion in Total Value Secured (TVS) according to L2BEAT, representing roughly 40% to 44% of the L2 market. DeFiLlama estimates Arbitrum’s TVL between $1.5 billion to $2 billion through mid-2026, with derivatives protocols like GMX and Vertex, alongside Aave V3, Pendle, and Camelot, driving significant open interest and liquidity. Arbitrum also boasts a robust stablecoin float, exceeding $4.2 billion in April 2026. The launch of Arbitrum Stylus in September 2024, allowing smart contracts in multiple languages, further enhances its developer appeal. Robinhood’s Arbitrum Orbit chain, launched in late 2025, signifies growing institutional adoption.

    Challenges: While leading in DeFi depth, Arbitrum lags behind Base in user activity, with approximately 4.3 million daily transactions and 129,000 active addresses compared to Base’s 11.57 million transactions and 663,000 active addresses in early 2026. More critically, like most optimistic rollups, Arbitrum still relies on a centralized sequencer, a single entity responsible for ordering transactions. While Arbitrum is at L2BEAT Stage 1 (meaning fraud proofs are permissionless), the centralized sequencer remains a point of concern for true decentralization and censorship resistance.

  • Optimism (Optimistic Rollup): Optimism, built on the OP Stack, remains a key player, often ranking in the top five L2s with a TVL typically ranging from $700 million to over $1 billion through mid-2026. The Optimism Collective’s bicameral governance structure, involving a Token House and a Citizens’ House, represents an ambitious attempt at decentralized governance. The Fjord network upgrade in July 2024 enhanced efficiency by reducing gas costs for smart wallet applications and improving L1 data pricing robustness.

    Challenges: Similar to Arbitrum, Optimism currently operates with a centralized sequencer, posing decentralization risks. Its TVL, while substantial, is generally lower than Arbitrum’s, and its ecosystem depth, while growing, is also less mature in some DeFi sectors. Optimism’s fees can also rise when Base traffic competes for the same Ethereum blob space, as blobs are an L1-wide resource.

  • Base (Optimistic Rollup): Backed by Coinbase and built on the OP Stack, Base has experienced explosive growth, often cited as the fastest-growing L2. Its TVL surged from $2.1 billion in October 2024 to $11.2 billion by April 2026, briefly surpassing Arbitrum in TVS during Q2 2026. Base’s activity metrics are impressive, with 12.89 million daily transactions and 382,500 daily active users as of February 2026. Coinbase’s vast user base, fiat on-ramps, and wallet integration provide a significant distribution advantage, funneling mainstream users into the Base ecosystem. It’s also a hub for consumer-facing dApps and agentic payment protocols.

    Challenges: While boasting rapid growth and user adoption, Base, as an OP Stack rollup, shares the same centralized sequencer architecture as Optimism and Arbitrum, raising concerns about censorship resistance and single points of failure. The reliance on Coinbase for distribution, while an advantage, also introduces a degree of centralization risk at the institutional level, blurring the lines of true decentralization. As of August 2026, Base is at L2BEAT Stage 1, indicating that while fraud proofs are permissionless, the sequencer remains centralized.

  • zkSync Era & StarkNet (ZK-Rollups): These ZK-rollups represent the cutting edge of L2 technology, offering instant finality and stronger security guarantees by eliminating the need for a fraud-proof challenge period. zkSync Era (Matter Labs) aims for “Fair Sequencing” and plans for a fully open and decentralized sequencer network by late 2026. StarkNet has been strategically transitioning to a “privacy-preserving execution layer” in H1 2026, with average daily transactions reaching approximately 239,000 in Q2 2026 and around 50,000 daily active addresses. Its roadmap includes deploying S-two for faster L1 finality and decentralized block validation.

    Challenges: Despite their technological superiority, ZK-rollups generally have lower TVL compared to optimistic rollups. For instance, StarkNet’s average transaction fee was $0.04294 as of August 25, 2026, and its TVL is significantly smaller than its optimistic counterparts, with a Bridged TVL of $119.18 million. The complexity of ZK proof generation can lead to higher transaction costs compared to optimistic rollups, and the developer tooling and ecosystem maturity, while rapidly improving, still lag behind. Most ZK-rollups, including zkSync Era and StarkNet, also currently operate with centralized sequencers, although plans for decentralization are underway.

Tokenomics and Value Accrual in L2s

The tokenomics of L2s present a complex picture, often diverging from the direct value accrual mechanisms seen in Layer 1 protocols. Tokens like Arbitrum’s ARB and Optimism’s OP are primarily governance tokens, granting holders the right to vote on protocol upgrades, treasury allocation, and other key decisions.

Arbitrum (ARB): The ARB token, with a total supply of 10 billion and vesting schedules extending into 2027, governs the Arbitrum DAO and its treasury. While Arbitrum’s network fundamentals are strong, the investment case for the ARB token is “materially weaker” than the network itself, according to CoinStats AI (2026). This is because ARB is primarily a governance token without direct protocol revenue distribution. Network growth has not historically translated into proportional token appreciation, and persistent supply unlocks, intense competition, and uncertain value-accrual mechanisms create substantial execution risk.

Optimism (OP): The OP token governs the Optimism Collective. Similar to ARB, OP’s value accrual is largely tied to its governance utility and the overall health of the Superchain ecosystem. The challenge for both ARB and OP lies in justifying their valuations beyond speculative interest or governance participation, especially when direct fee-sharing mechanisms with token holders are absent or limited.

The core issue is that L2s primarily generate revenue from transaction fees, which are then used to pay for data posting on Ethereum’s mainnet and cover operational costs. The portion of this revenue that directly accrues to token holders is often opaque or non-existent. Critics highlight that while L2s have taken Ethereum’s users, they have left the mainnet with a fraction of the revenue, impacting ETH burn mechanics.

Risk and Opportunity Assessment

The Bright Side: Opportunities for Growth and Innovation

  • Unprecedented Scalability: L2s have dramatically increased transaction throughput, making Ethereum usable for a much broader range of applications and users. The average daily Mainnet transactions per second (TPS) rose from 13.67 in Q1 2024 to 25.78 in Q1 2026, while L2 totals soared from 78.60 to 226.92 TPS over the same period. This enables complex DeFi strategies, high-frequency trading, and consumer-grade dApps that were previously infeasible on L1.
  • Reduced Costs: With transaction fees on L2s in the single-digit cents, the barrier to entry for new users and developers has significantly lowered, fostering greater adoption and innovation.
  • Developer Flexibility: Platforms like Arbitrum Stylus, which support multiple programming languages, are broadening the developer base and fostering a more diverse ecosystem of applications.
  • Modular Blockchain Architecture: The success of L2s reinforces Ethereum’s modular vision, where the mainnet serves as a secure settlement and data availability layer, while execution is handled by specialized L2s. This modularity is expected to continue evolving with future Ethereum upgrades like Glamsterdam.
  • New Use Cases: The increased efficiency of L2s is enabling novel use cases, including agentic payment protocols and AI agents autonomously managing assets or even potentially building their own L2s by the end of 2026, according to Chainthink (2026).

The Other Side: Real Risks and Unspoken Challenges

While the benefits of L2s are clear, a critical examination reveals several persistent and often underestimated risks:

  • Centralized Sequencers and Censorship: The most pressing concern is the widespread reliance on centralized sequencers in most major L2s, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and zkSync. These single entities are responsible for ordering transactions, introducing a single point of failure and the potential for censorship or malicious MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) extraction. While decentralized sequencing is on every major L2’s roadmap, no permissionless sequencer has been deployed in production as of early 2026, with practical decentralization likely 2-3 years away for major L2s, according to BugBlow (2026). This means users are effectively trusting a single operator with their transactions for now. The Morph project, however, has made substantial progress in implementing decentralized sequencers as of April 2026.

    “No amount of talking about Ethereum’s roadmap and vision matters if we cannot achieve coordination levels that consistently meet goals on schedule.” – Tomasz Stanczak, Co-Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation (2025)

  • Bridge Security and Liquidity Fragmentation: Cross-chain bridges, essential for moving assets between L1 and L2s, remain a significant attack vector. History is replete with multi-million dollar bridge exploits. While Circle’s CCTP (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol) offers a more secure native option for USDC transfers across several L2s, third-party bridges still carry inherent risks of liquidity provider fees, routing fees, and smart contract vulnerabilities. The proliferation of L2s also leads to liquidity fragmentation, making it challenging for users and protocols to manage assets across multiple environments efficiently.

  • Economic Sustainability of L2 Tokens: As highlighted with ARB, the investment case for many L2 tokens is often disconnected from the underlying network’s strong fundamentals. If tokens primarily serve governance functions without a clear mechanism for capturing a share of the protocol’s revenue or fees, their long-term value proposition beyond speculation remains tenuous. The argument that “the rollups took Ethereum’s users and left it with a fraction of the revenue” (HOGE Wire, 2026) is a valid critique of how value accrues within the broader ecosystem.

  • Competition and Market Consolidation: The L2 landscape is fiercely competitive. While a few major players like Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism dominate, L2BEAT tracks 73 active rollups as of April 2026. The Block’s 2026 Layer-2 Outlook flags most mid-tier rollups as unlikely to survive the next 12 months, as incentive programs expire and chains without strong distribution anchors lose capital. This consolidation could lead to fewer choices and potential monopolistic tendencies among the surviving L2s.

  • Complexity for Users and Developers: Despite efforts to simplify the user experience, navigating multiple L2s, understanding different bridging mechanisms, and managing gas across various networks can still be daunting for mainstream users. Developers also face challenges in choosing the right L2, considering factors like ecosystem maturity, tooling, and security models. The fragmentation of the ecosystem, while offering choice, also introduces complexity.

Comparative Analysis: L2s vs. Competing Chains and Other Scaling Approaches

Ethereum’s L2s are not operating in a vacuum. They face competition from several fronts:

  • Other Layer 1 Blockchains: High-performance L1s like Solana and Avalanche continue to offer lower transaction costs and higher throughput than Ethereum mainnet. Solana, for instance, charges a flat 5,000 lamports per signature (a fraction of a cent) and is a strong contender for stablecoin transfers. While L2s have significantly closed the fee gap with these L1s, and are forecast to surpass Solana’s TPS by March 2029 and have lower median fees by October 2026 (Ambrosia and Mizrach, 2026), these competing L1s still attract users and developers with their distinct ecosystems and architectural choices.

  • Sidechains: Projects like Polygon PoS operate as EVM-compatible sidechains, offering faster and cheaper transactions. However, sidechains typically have their own security models, which are often less robust than inheriting Ethereum’s security guarantees through rollups.

  • Ethereum’s Own Evolution: The Ethereum mainnet itself is undergoing continuous upgrades to improve its scalability. The Glamsterdam hard fork, planned for Q4 2026, will introduce Verkle Trees and further increase the gas limit, representing the most ambitious single-year upgrade in Ethereum’s history. These L1 improvements, coupled with increased blob capacity, are designed to make Ethereum a more robust settlement layer, further enhancing the capabilities of L2s. However, some argue that these L1 improvements could also reduce the competitive advantage of L2s by making mainnet more performant. The Ethereum Foundation (2026) has explicitly stated that “shard chains” are no longer needed, and have been dropped from the roadmap, due to the success of Layer 2 rollups and proto-danksharding.

The prevailing view is that Ethereum’s future is “rollup-centric.” The L1 will serve as the secure base layer, while L2s will handle the vast majority of transaction execution. The competition, therefore, is less about L1 vs. L2 and more about which L2s will capture market share, innovate on decentralization, and build sustainable economic models.

Recommendations: Short-Term and Long-Term Outlook

The Layer 2 landscape is dynamic, presenting both compelling opportunities and significant risks. For builders, users, and investors alike, a nuanced approach is critical. The short-term outlook is characterized by continued L2 dominance in transaction volume and user activity, driven by their superior cost-efficiency and throughput compared to the Ethereum mainnet. The long-term trajectory hinges on crucial advancements in decentralization and economic sustainability.

Short-Term Outlook (6-12 months):

  • Focus on Established L2s with Strong Ecosystems: For immediate utility and liquidity, Arbitrum and Base remain strong contenders, particularly for DeFi and consumer applications, respectively. Their established user bases and deep liquidity are difficult to replicate.
  • Prioritize Cost-Efficiency: Users should continue to leverage L2s for everyday transactions to minimize gas fees. The Dencun upgrade’s impact on blob fees has made L2s dramatically cheaper, a trend expected to persist until further L1 upgrades.
  • Exercise Caution with Newer, Smaller L2s: The market is consolidating. Be wary of projects without strong institutional backing, unique technological advantages, or clear paths to user acquisition, as many mid-tier rollups may not survive the next year.
  • Bridge Safely: Always use reputable bridges with a proven track record and substantial TVL. For large transfers, consider native solutions like Circle’s CCTP for USDC. Be aware of the inherent risks of third-party bridges.

Long-Term Outlook (1-3+ years):

  • Decentralized Sequencers are Paramount: The true long-term health of L2s, and their ability to uphold the core ethos of blockchain, depends on the successful implementation of decentralized sequencers. Investors and users should closely monitor the progress of projects actively working on these solutions, such as Morph, Espresso Systems, Astria, and SUAVE. Until then, the centralization risk remains a significant asterisk on the decentralization claims of most L2s.
  • ZK-Rollup Maturation: ZK-rollups like zkSync Era and StarkNet are technologically superior in terms of finality and security. As their developer tooling matures, costs decrease, and sequencers decentralize, they are poised to capture a larger market share. The “ZK-EVM” race is critical here, aiming for full EVM compatibility with ZK proofs.
  • Sustainable Tokenomics: The L2 token models need to evolve beyond pure governance. Future value accrual mechanisms that directly benefit token holders from protocol revenue or network activity will be crucial for long-term investment viability. Expect innovation in this area, potentially through token-burning mechanisms or revenue-sharing models.
  • Cross-L2 Interoperability: The fragmentation of liquidity and user experience across multiple L2s is a significant hurdle. Seamless cross-L2 communication and asset transfers will be essential for a truly unified and scalable Ethereum ecosystem.
  • Symbiotic L1-L2 Relationship: Ethereum’s own upgrades (e.g., Glamsterdam) will continue to refine its role as a secure and efficient settlement layer, further empowering L2s. The ongoing collaboration and competition between L1 and L2 development will shape the future of Web3.

The narrative that L2s have entirely solved Ethereum’s decentralization challenges is a comfortable illusion. While they deliver on performance, the journey to truly decentralized sequencing is far from over, and until it is, users and developers operate with an implicit trust in centralized operators. This is the inconvenient truth often overshadowed by impressive TVL figures.

Conclusion

Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem has undeniably delivered on its promise of scaling the network, transforming it into a high-throughput, low-cost environment for decentralized applications. The dramatic reduction in transaction fees and the surge in activity on platforms like Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism are testaments to their technical prowess and market adoption. However, as senior analysts and content editors at DistilHub, it is our duty to present a balanced, critical perspective.

The current state of L2s, while advanced, is far from a fully decentralized utopia. The reliance on centralized sequencers remains a significant vulnerability, posing risks of censorship, single points of failure, and the potential for opaque MEV extraction. Furthermore, the long-term economic sustainability of many L2 token models, often detached from direct protocol revenue, requires careful scrutiny. The market’s recent TVL contraction, while potentially a sign of maturation, underscores the need for robust, battle-tested economic frameworks rather than continued reliance on speculative incentives.

The path forward for Ethereum’s scaling is clear: continued innovation in ZK-rollup technology, a relentless pursuit of decentralized sequencing, and the development of sustainable tokenomics that align network growth with token value accrual. Only by addressing these core challenges can L2s truly fulfill the promise of a scalable, secure, and decentralized future for Web3. Until then, users and investors must navigate this complex landscape with a healthy dose of skepticism, prioritizing transparency, security, and proven decentralization over fleeting hype and inflated projections.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Always conduct your own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.

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