Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has publicly shared his vision for Ethereum Layer 2 network cross-chain interoperability. His groundbreaking plan could vastly improve the Ethereum ecosystem user experience.

Buterin's Vision Unveiled

In a post on X on Aug. 6, Buterin addressed a question regarding the most promising paths to achieving cross-layer-2 interoperability.

This question followed his Aug. 5 post, in which he stated, 'I think people will be surprised by how quickly 'cross-L2 interoperability problems' stop being problems and we get a smooth user experience across the entire Ethereumverse.'

He added that he saw 'lots of energy and will to make this happen' before highlighting several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) on the roadmap to cross-L2 compatibility.

The Roadmap: EIPs in Focus

One significant stage on the roadmap is EIP-3370, which introduces a new address standard to be adapted by wallets and dApps. This standard will display chain-specific addresses using a human-readable prefix.

Another crucial step is EIP-7683, aiming to create a standard way for different Ethereum layer-2 networks to communicate and execute trades across chains.

Currently, it's complex and often inefficient for users to trade assets between different networks. Establishing a new standard set of rules that all chains can follow would alleviate this issue.

Also on the roadmap is EIP-3668, a proposal outlining a method for Ethereum smart contracts to access off-chain data standardized.

Buterin calls this 'layer-2 light clients' to standardize how Ethereum contracts can use off-chain data. This initiative will make it easier and more efficient for developers to build applications requiring extensive data without incurring high on-chain storage costs.

Technological Advancements and Future Prospects

Buterin also mentioned 'cross-L2-replayable account state updates,' a concept he explained in a blog post 2023. This refers to how layer-2s receive recent L1 state updates while maintaining security and low latency. He also discussed a few phase 2 updates to improve cross-chain L2 compatibility, including keystore rollups and proof aggregation.

In terms of compatibility with existing zero-knowledge and optimistic rollups, he noted that these 'stage 1' updates are 'completely independent of the details of rollup tech.'

He concluded, 'Eventually, I think all rollups will go zk (and existing zk rollups will have to redo their tech stack) to finalize to Ethereum once per slot. But that's like 5+ years away.'

'I think people will be surprised by how quickly 'cross-L2 interoperability problems' stop being problems, and we get a smooth user experience across the entire Ethereum-verse.' - Vitalik Buterin

The Path Forward

Earlier this year, investment manager VanEck predicted that Ethereum L2 scaling networks would hit a $1 trillion market capitalization in six years.

Buterin's ambitious vision could be a significant step toward that prediction, potentially revolutionizing the Ethereum ecosystem and paving the way for more seamless and efficient cross-chain interactions.