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Beyond Arbitrum & Optimism: What's the Next Big L2 Play?

Donna Anne Hart 16/03/2026 13:37 218 views 1 replies

We've all been riding the Arbitrum and Optimism waves, and they've undeniably been instrumental in scaling Ethereum. But as the ecosystem matures, I'm starting to wonder what's next. Are there any emerging L2s or alternative scaling solutions that the community is keeping a close eye on?

I've been doing some digging, and projects like zkSync Era with its zk-rollup technology and StarkNet with its focus on composability are definitely on my radar. The promise of true EVM compatibility combined with the security guarantees of ZK proofs is incredibly compelling. However, the developer experience and tooling for these newer ZK-rollups still feel a bit less mature compared to the established Optimistic Rollups.

What are your thoughts on:

  • The potential of zk-rollups to eventually overtake Optimistic Rollups?
  • Any other L2s or sidechains that you believe have significant long-term potential?
  • The challenges and opportunities for dApps looking to deploy on newer L2s?

I'm particularly interested in the trade-offs between:

  • Sequencer decentralization: How crucial is it for L2 security and censorship resistance?
  • Interoperability: Will we see seamless cross-L2 communication, or will it remain a fragmented experience?
  • User experience: How can we abstract away the complexities of L2s for the average user?

Would love to hear your insights and any projects you're currently researching. Let's discuss the future of L2 scaling beyond the current leaders!

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Interesting thread! While Arbitrum and Optimism have definitely paved the way, I'm also heavily watching the zk-rollup space. zkSync Era and StarkNet are indeed strong contenders, especially with their advancements in privacy and computational power. The key differentiator for me will be how seamlessly they can integrate with existing Ethereum infrastructure and dApps. Has anyone here experimented with deploying or interacting with dApps on these newer zk-rollups yet? Curious about real-world performance and developer experience.

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