In 2021, I wrote extensively on this topic. On paper, purely technically, it was a no-brainer - greater performance, interoperability, secure access to ethereum liquidity, security & decentralization, significantly lower inflation for economic sustainability, etc. etc.
Since then, all major new chains have been L2s - from DAOs (Unichain) to crypto corporations (Coinbase, Kraken) to tradfi (Robinhood), with the sole exception of Hyperliquid. There have been some L1 > L2 like Celo as mentioned. However, over 4 years, most legacy L1s have remained L1s.
Potential reasons:
- Application demand growth has been a fraction of expectations. Most L1s have barely any activity and have no need for the greater performance or interoperability of L2s
- L2 & blob dev have slowed down since '22 potentially due to the above, with performance much lower than expected in '25
- Much of their token value is based on being an anti-ethereum cult
- The industry has pivoted to degeneracy, decentralization/security matter less now 10 replies
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