Ye Zhang criticizes Ethereum rollup fees, stressing scalability over short-term profits for long-term growth - IcoHolder.

Ye Zhang, co-founder of the layer-2 smart contract platform Scroll, has sharply criticized proposals to impose fees on Ethereum rollups, describing the idea as “one of the most toxic for Ethereum’s future.” In a series of posts on social media, Zhang argued that such a move would prioritize short-term revenue over long-term scalability and ecosystem growth. He further emphasized that evaluating Ethereum’s value based solely on revenue overlooks the broader role the network plays in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

According to Zhang, Ethereum’s strength lies in being a "hub asset" for thousands of rollup ecosystems rather than in collecting fees from them. Data from DefiLlama reveals that after Ethereum's EIP-4488 upgrade, which boosted layer-2 scalability, Ethereum's transaction fees dropped significantly, from tens of millions per day to around $570,000 by late March. This shift underscores Ethereum’s growing reliance on layer-2 solutions and their increasing role in the network’s functionality.

Zhang also pointed to the differences between Ethereum and other blockchain ecosystems, such as Solana, which uses its own token for all transactions. Ethereum, however, maintains dominance across platforms like Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync, Scroll, and even where ETH is not the primary gas token, such as StarkNet. He warned that charging fees on rollups could push these ecosystems toward alternative data availability solutions, potentially weakening Ethereum's influence.

Zhang cautioned that if Ethereum became “greedy” and started taxing layer-2s, it could lose its relevance while failing to scale effectively. Instead, he suggested that Ethereum should focus on speeding up its scaling efforts and delivering upgrades more rapidly. His comments reflect growing concerns within the crypto community about the network’s development pace, with former Ethereum Foundation Solidity expert Harikrishnan Mulackal recently highlighting internal confusion and delays in key updates.