Viewpoint: Ethereum needs to establish a value capture mechanism, otherwise it will become an outdated security layer

Author: zak.eth , Corn

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

Ethereum's value is being lost to L2. Rollups withdraw fees, MEV and liquidity, while ETH stakers are left behind. If this continues, Ethereum will become a stupid layer of security, and L2 will print money.

L2 does not need to use ETH as gas, but they do need to pay for Ethereum's security. Currently, they pay almost nothing. This situation needs to be changed. Ethereum is not a free lunch. L2 should pay the rent.

Base charged about $2.5 million last month, and paid less than $11,000 to Ethereum. Optimism earns about $321 from the L2 fee for every $1 paid to ETH. L2 has amazing profits, but ETH can hardly see any value.

This is crazy.

Each rollup should contribute to Ethereum in one of the following ways:

• ETH staking deposits: L2 sorter should use ETH as participating collateral
• Settlement Fee: Part of L2 fees should be attributed to Ethereum pledgers
• MEV reallocation: L2 generated MEV should be routed back to Ethereum

If L2 does not use ETH as gas, it should still be required to pledge ETH or deposit a portion of its token supply into the ETH vault. The vault will act as an index for all rollup economies, making ETH the financial layer of the L2 ecosystem.

Ethereum validators should protect rollups, not just L1. The L2 sorter should be required to stake ETH and restake should be used to extend Ethereum's security to all rollups. If L2 wants to gain Ethereum's trust, it needs to be paid for it.

Each L2 requires liquidity to transfer assets across chains. ETH should be the default settlement asset for all cross-rollup transactions. Native gas tokens are good, but ETH needs to be the liquidity layer.

L2 does not have to be forced to adopt a model. They can use their own tokens, their own sorters, and their own economics. But Ethereum needs to obtain value, either through ETH staking and charging, or directly linked to rollup economies.

Currently, Ethereum is subsidizing L2, while L2 is squeezing all benefits. This is unsustainable. Ethereum will either force adjustments now, or it may become an outdated security layer of rollup.

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