Vitalik Buterin argues Layer 2 projects with backdoors or partial decentralization offer little advantage over centralized servers.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated on July 3, 2025, that many Layer 2 (L2) projects claiming decentralization retain instant backdoors or fail to meet decentralization standards. He contends this approach provides minimal improvement over traditional centralized servers.
Buterin emphasized that if developers hesitate to fully decentralize, they should openly adopt a centralized model. His remarks follow ongoing debates about the transparency and security of L2 solutions in the Ethereum ecosystem.
The comments highlight growing scrutiny over the practical implementation of decentralization in blockchain scaling solutions.