Ethereum's rollups require more than just Stage 2, according to Vitalik Buterin's warning.
Ethereum [ETH] has undergone substantial changes in 2025, particularly when it comes to technology and leadership, with co-founder Vitalik Buterin steering the ship. Buterin's focus on resilience and decentralization, at both the L1 (base) and L2 levels, has been a recurring theme.
On a recent Monday, Buterin emphasized the importance of 'stronger' and 'battle-tested' proof systems for Ethereum's scaling protocols (rollups), rather than merely relying on the 'Stage 2' milestone for risk mitigation. He pointed out, "A good reminder that stage 2 is not the only thing that matters for security: the quality of the underlying proof system matters too."
For those unacquainted, stage labeling (stage 0 to stage 2) denotes the level of decentralization in a rollup. However, the way rollups manage off-chain transactions (proof system) is equally crucial, according to Buterin.
Buterin's Rollup Proposal
Buterin proposed a model wherein a rollup would progress from stage 0 to stage 2 (more secure and decentralized) if it becomes increasingly difficult to break (reducing the probability of proof system breaking). In his chart, only three rollups were at Stage 2 as of May 2025, while seven, including Base, Unichain, and Arbitrum, were at Stage 1, indicating reasonable decentralization at present. However, under Buterin's new model, these rollups might still face inherent risks due to a lack of battle-tested proof systems.
Despite the potential risks for rollups, the forecast for ETH remains positive. Crypto analytics firm Amberdata predicted the altcoin could reach a price of $2.2K in the medium term. This prediction was anchored in increased bids for call options with strike prices of $1800 and $2200 for May and June expiries. Additionally, Amberdata anticipated a recovery in the ETH/BTC ratio soon.
"There's potential for a snap-back rally in the ETH/BTC ratio and ETH could easily relief rally above $2,200 in the medium term as risk-assets rebound everywhere," explained the firm.
On the price chart, the $1800 level coincided with an April high and a notable resistance level. Flipping $1800 into support could pave the way for the price to advance to $2K or $2.2K, as the next overhead targets. While the daily RSI revealed improved buying pressure since mid-April, whale positioning was subdued, as indicated by the red bars on the Whale vs. Retail Delta indicator. A stronger whale positioning (green) could suggest a robust upward momentum ahead.
- Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum [ETH], highlighted the importance of battle-tested proof systems for Ethereum's scaling protocols known as rollups, emphasizing that they are as crucial as the level of decentralization.
- Buterin proposed a model for rollups to progress from stage 0 to stage 2, suggesting that a rollup would do so if it becomes increasingly difficult to break, reducing the probability of the proof system breaking.
- Despite potential risks for rollups and the inherent risks due to a lack of battle-tested proof systems, the forecast for Etherem [ETH] remains positive, with crypto analytics firm Amberdata predicting that ETH could reach a price of $2.2K in the medium term.
