The fragmentation of Ethereum's Layer 2 networks has become a growing concern, prompting the Ethereum Foundation to propose a new approach. L2s enabled faster and cheaper transactions, but at the cost of a more complex user experience. Bridges, chain-specific wallets, and dispersion of liquidity always slow down activity. The proposed Ethereum Interoperability Layer (EIL) seeks to bring these elements together and provide a more consistent experience.
In brief
- The EIL aims to reduce fragmentation by enabling cross-L2 actions with a single signature, directly from smart wallets.
- Rollups keep their architecture, while EIL adds a shared layer that removes steps and limits trust assumptions.
- The community reacts positively and calls for fewer bridges, fewer costs and simpler travel between L2s.
- The rise of EIL could reduce the activity of intermediaries, replaced by flows managed directly from portfolios.
Ethereum Foundation Reveals EIL, Making Inter-L2 Transactions Simpler and More Secure
In an article published Tuesday, the Ethereum Foundation explains that the EIL aims to make rollups appear to form a single chain. Rollups have improved performance, but also made the user journey more complex.
EIL makes Ethereum rollups appear to form a single, unified chain by allowing the user to sign only once for a cross-chain transaction, without introducing new trust assumptions.
Ethereum Foundation
Today, moving assets across chains often involves additional trust assumptions, sophisticated bridges, relayers, or network-specific tools. EIL wants to reduce this friction by limiting the steps required for cross-chain interactions.
The EIL would make it possible to execute cross-L2 actions directly from a wallet, with a single signature: no intermediaries, no additional layers of trust. This proposal builds on the ERC-4337 account abstraction and follows the principles of the Trustless Manifesto, giving more control back to users rather than external services.
The Foundation compares EIL to the role HTTP played in the early internet. Before HTTP, each server operated in isolation. The arrival of the protocol allowed browsers to access the web fluidly. The EIL would seek to establish a comparable standard for the growing rollup ecosystem by providing a uniform method of interaction via wallets.
It highlights several current problems that the EIL wishes to resolve:
- Too many bridges, leading to risks and costs.
- Disconnected wallets, each linked to specific rollups.
- Scattered liquidity, which slows down activity.
- Over-reliance on relayers and solvers.
- Too many steps, multiplying points of failure.
Despite technical advances, these obstacles have slowed the mass adoption of L2s. The EIL wants to simplify interactions without changing the internal functioning of rollups.
Ethereum Users Support EIL to Reduce Fees and Limit Bridge Usage
Rather than transforming existing infrastructure, the EIL would act as a universal adapter. Each rollup remains unchanged, but the EIL adds a common layer of communication. Users would no longer have to change interfaces or wallets according to their needs: their smart wallet would become the center of cross-chain operations.
The proposal received a favorable reception on X. Many users say they are exhausted by the multiplicity of bridges and the associated fees. The general opinion expresses a clear request: simplify interactions while retaining the minimum guarantees of trust which are the strength of Ethereum.
EIL puts pressure on L2 intermediaries, wallets would take over
Not all stakeholders will view this change favorably. Services specializing in inter-L2 interactions, relayers, solvers or multi-chain tools, could see their activity drop if EIL is imposed. Smart wallets would automate these processes, drastically reducing the need for external services.
Many intermediaries have appeared to compensate for the complexity of L2s. But if the EIL solves these problems, some projects could lose most of their traffic. They will then have to adapt their model or risk being marginalized in favor of simplified interactions, driven by portfolios.
The EIL remains a proposal, but it is already attracting massive support. The community welcomes the idea of a more cohesive Ethereum, while developers encourage the goal of reducing friction without increasing risk. By returning control to users and limiting dependence on intermediaries, EIL could sustainably transform interactions within Ethereum's L2 network.
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