Vitalik Buterin Warns Ethereum Doesn’t Need More Copy-Paste EVM Chains

Vitalik Buterin has pushed back against the growing wave of new EVM-compatible chains and Layer-1 networks, arguing that the Ethereum ecosystem is suffering from a lack of imagination rather than a lack of blockspace.

In a detailed post published on February 5, Buterin said Ethereum’s base layer is already scaling and will soon provide a significant amount of EVM blockspace, making most new “copy-paste” EVM chains redundant.

He warned that simply launching another EVM chain with an optimistic bridge to Ethereum, often with long withdrawal delays, has become a default pattern that adds little real innovation.

According to Buterin, this approach mirrors governance failures seen in repeated protocol forks, where familiarity replaces creativity and leads ecosystems into structural dead ends.

Ethereum L1 Is Scaling – and That Changes the Equation

Buterin emphasized that Ethereum’s Layer 1 roadmap will continue to expand capacity, delivering substantial blockspace over time. While he acknowledged that certain use cases, particularly AI-driven applications, may eventually require even lower latency and higher throughput than a scaled L1 can offer, he stressed that the answer is not endless new Layer-1s.

In his view, launching standalone EVM chains without deep Ethereum integration is even less defensible, as it fragments liquidity and composability while offering no meaningful technical advantage.

Innovation Should Focus on What Ethereum Doesn’t Already Do Well

Rather than duplicating existing infrastructure, Buterin called on developers to build systems that introduce genuinely new capabilities. He pointed to areas such as privacy, application-specific execution efficiency, and ultra-low-latency environments as examples where innovation would actually matter.

He argued that Ethereum’s future depends less on the number of chains claiming compatibility and more on whether new projects expand what is possible within decentralized systems.

App Chains and “Institutional L2s” Can Still Make Sense

Buterin clarified that he is not opposed to all app-specific chains. He outlined architectures where applications remain deeply connected to Ethereum, such as systems where issuance, settlement, and user accounts live on L1, while high-frequency execution occurs on a rollup or L2 that directly reads from Ethereum for verification.

He also described a separate category he referred to as “institutional L2s,” where governments, enterprises, or platforms anchor cryptographic proofs, such as Merkle roots and zero-knowledge proofs, onchain. While these systems may not be trustless or credibly neutral in the Ethereum sense, he argued they could still deliver something valuable: verifiable algorithmic transparency.

“Vibes Should Match Substance”

A central theme of Buterin’s message was alignment between marketing and reality. Projects should not overstate their connection to Ethereum if that connection is superficial, such as maintaining a bridge purely for optics or ecosystem signaling.

If a system is fundamentally an Ethereum application, it should embrace that identity. If it is not Ethereum but shares similar values, such as transparency or trust minimization, it should communicate that honestly instead of borrowing Ethereum branding.

The Bottom Line

Buterin’s comments highlight a growing philosophical divide in crypto infrastructure development. As Ethereum scales, the competitive advantage of launching yet another EVM-compatible chain diminishes. In its place, the ecosystem is being challenged to pursue deeper innovation, building systems that extend Ethereum’s capabilities rather than merely copying its execution environment.

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