The founder of Ethereum's new perspective on L2 fast withdrawals provokes thought

The founder of Ethereum has recently attracted widespread attention for his views on L2 fast withdrawals. He believes that achieving fast withdrawals within 1 hour is more important than reaching Stage 2, and the logic behind this priority adjustment is worth exploring in depth.

First, the one-week withdrawal waiting period has indeed become a serious issue in practical applications. It not only affects user experience but, more importantly, significantly increases cross-chain costs. For instance, for intent-based bridging solutions like ERC-7683, liquidity providers have to bear a week's worth of capital occupation costs, which directly leads to an increase in cross-chain fees. The result is that users have to opt for multi-signature solutions with weaker trust assumptions, which goes against the original intention of L2.

To address this issue, the founder of Ethereum proposed a 2-of-3 hybrid proof system (ZK+OP+TEE). Among them, ZK and TEE can provide immediacy, while TEE and OP both have sufficient production verification. Theoretically, any combination of two systems can ensure security, thus avoiding the time cost of solely waiting for ZK technology to mature completely.

Secondly, this new stance seems to indicate that the attitude of Ethereum's founders has become more pragmatic. From previously emphasizing the ideals of "decentralization" and "anti-censorship," it has shifted to a more pragmatic approach that directly provides hard metrics: 1 hour withdrawal, 12 seconds finality. This shift is essentially paving the way for the ultimate form of the "Rollup-Centric" grand strategy, aiming to make Ethereum L1 truly a unified settlement layer and liquidity hub.

Once quick withdrawals and cross-chain aggregation are realized, the difficulty for other public chains to challenge the Ethereum ecosystem will significantly increase. This shift from "ideal-driven" to "result-oriented" reflects that the entire Ethereum ecosystem is developing towards a more commercial and competitive direction.

However, to achieve the ideal user experience and the long-term goals of infrastructure construction, the Ethereum ecosystem will likely need to engage in fierce competition in terms of the maturity of ZK technology and cost control in the future. Currently, although ZK technology is advancing rapidly, cost remains a real constraint. A ZK proof of 500k+ gas means that only hourly submission rates can be achieved in the short term, and reaching the final goal of 12 seconds will require breakthroughs in aggregation technology.

This logic is clearly visible: the cost of a single Rollup frequently submitting proofs is too high, but if multiple Rollup proofs can be aggregated into one, it becomes economically feasible when spread across each time slot (12 seconds). This also presents a new technical route for the L2 competitive landscape. L2 projects that can achieve breakthroughs in ZK proof optimization may find their footing, while projects still focused on Optimism's optimistic proofs may face directional challenges.