He warned that if Ethereum fails, L2 networks will also collapse, advocating for a supportive development approach rather than one influenced by market fluctuations.

In a recent episode of Cointelegraph's Chain Reaction, Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, expressed concerns about rising anti-layer-2 (L2) sentiment as Ether's price declines.

He praised Vitalik Buterin's leadership for fostering cohesion within the Ethereum ecosystem and attracting talented developers.

Nailwal cautioned that pressure from the Ethereum community to limit L2 networks could disrupt the social fabric of Ethereum.

He acknowledged that critics claim L2 networks are eroding Ethereum's base layer, which has contributed to a notable decrease in Ethereum's revenue by September 2024.

Despite these concerns, Nailwal believes that no other network poses a significant threat to Ethereum, except for Bitcoin, which would require advanced scripting capabilities to rival Ethereum's smart contracts.

Looking ahead, Nailwal predicts that most applications will operate their own blockchains to manage gas fees, with final transactions submitted to settlement layers like Ethereum.

He argued that the distinction between layer-1 and layer-2 is misleading, asserting that Bitcoin and Ethereum are the only true settlement layers in the cryptocurrency space, while others serve primarily as execution layers.