Vitalik Buterin Prioritizes Quick Withdrawals Over Decentralization in Ethereum's L2 Strategy

According to PANews, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has emphasized the importance of achieving quick withdrawals within one hour over reaching Stage 2 in Ethereum's Layer 2 (L2) solutions. This shift in priority highlights the challenges posed by the current one-week withdrawal waiting period, which negatively impacts user experience and increases cross-chain costs. For instance, liquidity providers in intent-based bridging solutions like ERC-7683 face a week-long capital lock-up, raising cross-chain fees and forcing users to opt for less secure multi-signature solutions, contrary to L2's original goals. Buterin proposes a 2-of-3 hybrid proof system combining Zero-Knowledge (ZK), Optimistic Proof (OP), and Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) technologies. This system aims to provide immediacy and sufficient production verification, ensuring security with any two systems, thus avoiding the time cost of waiting for ZK technology to fully mature. Buterin's recent statements suggest a pragmatic shift from his earlier idealistic focus on decentralization and censorship resistance. By prioritizing quick withdrawals and a 12-second finality, he is reshaping the priorities within the L2 space, paving the way for Ethereum's 'Rollup-Centric' strategy. This approach aims to establish Ethereum Layer 1 as a unified settlement layer and liquidity center, making it more challenging for other blockchains to compete with the Ethereum ecosystem. The market's preference for user experience and efficiency over decentralization ideals has driven this shift from 'ideal-driven' to 'result-oriented' strategies, reflecting Ethereum's evolution towards a more commercial and competitive direction. However, achieving the desired user experience and infrastructure goals will likely require advancements in ZK technology's maturity and cost control. Despite rapid progress, ZK technology's current costs remain a constraint, with 500k+ gas ZK proofs limiting submission frequency to hourly intervals. Achieving the ultimate 12-second goal will depend on breakthroughs in aggregation technology. The logic is clear: frequent proof submissions by individual Rollups are costly, but if proofs from multiple Rollups can be aggregated into one, the cost per 12-second slot becomes economically viable. This presents a new technical route for L2 competition, where projects that excel in ZK proof optimization may find a foothold, while those focused solely on Optimism's optimistic proofs risk losing direction.