Vitalik Buterin spoke about the options for using third-level solutions

The Ethereum co-founder stated that layer 3 solutions only make sense if they provide different functionality than layer 2 protocols.

According to Buterin, a three-tier scaling architecture that involves layering the same scaling scheme on top of itself generally doesn’t work well:

“Rollups on top of rollups, where two levels of rollups use the same technology, of course don’t work. But a three-layer architecture, in which the second and third layers have different purposes, can still work,” Buterin said.

Another use case for layer 3 protocols could be “custom scaling” for specialized applications that don’t want to use the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to perform calculations. Buterin believes that the third layer can be used to scale with “weak confidence” using Validiums technology.

The Ethereum co-founder added that this could be useful for enterprise blockchain applications by using “a centralized server that runs a validator and hashes are regularly recorded on the blockchain.”

Buterin stressed that it is still unclear whether the third layer structures will be more efficient than the current second layer model when it comes to building custom applications on the Ethereum network.

At the end of August, Vitalik Buterin announced that in a month he would release a unique book called “Proof of Stake”, which would collect all of his articles and notes over the past ten years.