#EthereumL2Outlook 2026: The Year of Shakeout
Ethereum’s Layer 2 landscape is at a critical crossroads. The early dream of “cheap branded shards” is fading as Ethereum L1 scales faster than expected. With fees dropping to mere pennies and gas limits soaring above 200M thanks to the Fusaka/Heze upgrades, users are increasingly returning to the mainnet — active addresses are up over 41%, while L2 monthly users have declined roughly 50% from 2025 peaks.
Vitalik himself has acknowledged that the original rollup vision “no longer makes sense.” This signals a brutal consolidation ahead:
✅ Winners:
B