Vitalik Buterin Spotlights Soneium as Great Ethereum Layer-2 For Users

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is bullish on Soneium, a new Layer-2 (L2) scaling solution built on the blockchain. His comments came amid conversation around financial censorship onchain restrictions that trailed the launch of Sony-backed Soneium. To the Ethereum co-founder, Soneium is good for corporations.

The Vitalik Buterin Take on Soneium

According to Vitalik Buterin, the controversy that trailed the L2’s launch is a live demonstration of how blockchain is good for businesses and users. Since blockchain protocols can enable the design of new rules, the Ethereum founder said businesses can make very fine-grained choices around how much control they want.

While some contend against censorship rules, Vitalik Buterin said whatever the rules enshrined onchain are, that is the rule. He noted that everything is onchain and is auditable by third parties.

He also pointed out that businesses may even make a closed system where there is no escape hatch. In this case, he said the state root may be edited, but in this case, the users will know exactly what they are signing up for. 

The Ethereum founder noted that it will become hard to manipulate as platforms like L2Beat can help enforce accountability.

The Ethereum L2 Strategy Sony Adopted

As reported earlier by Coingape, Soneium went live on the mainnet this week, setting a new landmark in the Ethereum L2 scene. At launch, the blockchain restricted memecoins, sparking the observed backlash.

However, Vitalik Buterin said Sony Group has succeeded in creating a system where users can send transactions with a large speed bump. However, he said the Soneium system can throttle but has not necessarily censored users. 

The @Soneium situation is a good live demonstration of how launching an ethereum L2 is great for businesses *and* users.

Businesses can make very fine-grained choices around how much control they keep vs give to users.

But whatever rules they choose, that’s what the rules are.… https://t.co/jmaCRDsyF0

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 15, 2025

The Ethereum co-founder said the blockchain world is a free market at play. He closed his commentary, noting that the industry only needs to watch out for two things. This includes ensuring a critical mass of financial activity happens in fully open environments and that users have the tools to understand the platform they are engaging.

The ETH L2 Dominance War

New L2 protocols continue to come onchain. Per an earlier update, the Kraken also launched Ink, its Ethereum scaling solution, in December. 

Amid these new protocol launches, the dominance war in the Ethereum ecosystem is growing. Coinbase-backed Base Network and Arbitrum continue to lead the ecosystem per transaction volume and Total Value Locked (TVL).

Amid the ongoing push for dominance, Base developers have unveiled plans to tokenize COIN on the protocol this year. This is among the many ambitious updates from top outfits in the Ethereum ecosystem