Ethereum nears solving L2 rollup interoperability, paving the way for seamless crosschain integration - IcoHolder.
Ethereum is on the brink of solving one of its most persistent challenges: interoperability across its growing network of layer 2 (L2) rollups. The long-awaited improvements, set to go live in the coming weeks, promise to bring seamless crosschain swaps, trustless messaging, and unified liquidity, which could transform Ethereum back into a truly integrated ecosystem.
In the past, Ethereum has struggled with the limitations of its L2 rollups, which, despite significantly reducing transaction costs and improving scalability, have been isolated from one another. Users were left navigating costly and sometimes unreliable bridges to move assets between different chains. This fragmentation has long weighed on Ethereum’s user experience, leaving many with a disjointed ecosystem.
However, Ethereum developers are making strides in solving this issue. Key advancements such as easy crosschain token swaps, new human-readable chain-specific addresses, and faster transactions are expected to become a reality in the near future. Industry leaders, from Base to Across, are optimistic that these upgrades will create the seamless experience Ethereum has long promised.
“The move toward fast, standardized interoperability isn’t just a technical upgrade — it’s essential for making Ethereum feel like one seamless ecosystem,” said Hart Lambur, co-founder of Across. When chains can interact in mere seconds, the vision of a unified Ethereum becomes attainable.
Among the most important technical proposals driving this change are ERC-7683, which defines standards for crosschain intents, and RIP-7755, which simplifies crosschain transaction execution. The latter introduces a network of offchain relayers known as Fulfillers, who securely ferry transactions across chains without relying on third parties. This decentralized model ensures that transactions are trustless and more efficient.
Jesse Pollack, a lead contributor to Base, shared that the solutions being developed could lead to “seamless token transfers” between L2s within the next few months. While this doesn’t fully address synchronous composability (where every app and L2 would be able to interact instantaneously), it will meet the needs of most users, who want to transfer assets across chains with minimal delay.
These developments aim to simplify the user experience and make Ethereum more accessible, enabling wallets to operate across multiple chains without friction.
Ethereum’s scaling issues became apparent during the last bull run, when gas fees skyrocketed to $200 per transaction. Layer 2 rollups, such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base, helped mitigate these costs by scaling transactions at a much lower price, but the introduction of 55 new rollups has created a fragmented system. This fragmentation has made it difficult for users to interact seamlessly across chains, leading to high barriers to entry.
Mallesh Pai, Senior Director of Research at ConsenSys, believes that enabling simple crosschain swaps will be a crucial first step in improving interoperability. These swaps will allow users to easily transfer assets between L2s, although full, instantaneous interoperability across all L2s is still a distant goal. Nevertheless, Pai remains confident that most users will be satisfied with the progress being made in the coming months.
Looking ahead, Pollack predicts a future where users no longer need to worry about which chain they’re on. Instead, their wallet will serve as a bridge to access assets and applications across multiple chains. The Ethereum network will continue to scale, relying on an asynchronous model similar to how the broader internet functions today. With crosschain execution becoming faster and more reliable, Ethereum is on track to offer a unified ecosystem that works for users and developers alike.
As these interoperability improvements begin to roll out in 2025, Ethereum’s position as the backbone of decentralized finance (DeFi) could be further solidified, making Ethereum feel like Ethereum again — a seamless, efficient, and integrated blockchain ecosystem.
