The CEO of Polygon, Marc Boiron, firmly declared that the layer-2 network was not considering the development of layer-3 protocols due to the potential dangers they bring to Ethereum's safety. Boiron made this statement in light of the initial success of Degen Chain, a layer-3 network operating on the Base scaling solution backed by Coinbase.

Layer 3 protocols serve to improve scalability by expanding on Layer 2 infrastructure, enabling developers to create specialized blockchains to suit their needs. Degen Chain, a layer-3 network constructed using Arbitrum Orbit for the DEGEN token, has swiftly gained prominence as the primary community token within Farcaster users, a fast-growing web3 social media platform.

Since its inception on March 28, the network has garnered significant attention and transactional activity within the cryptocurrency industry, experiencing an impressive surge of over 200% in the past week. Information reveals that the network has facilitated the transfer of more than $30 million and powered over 3.5 million transactions as of March 30.

The early achievements of Degen Chain have sparked debates within the crypto community, with differing opinions emerging about the network. In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter) on March 31, Boiron argued that layer-3 networks divert value away from Ethereum towards the layer-2 platforms on which they operate. He stated that such a trend contradicts Polygon's dedication to scaling Ethereum, which the company already tackles through its proof-of-stake (PoS) and zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) chains.

Boiron also highlighted the potential negative impacts of adopting layer-3 networks, pointing out their limited performance improvements and the imminent threat they pose to Ethereum's security. He explained, "If all L3s settled to one L2, then Ethereum would capture basically no value and, thus, Ethereum security would be at risk." Moreover, he added, "If Ethereum earns no fees and has no prospect of earning fees other than a tiny amount of fees from this one L2, then the value of ETH will drop, and, once it is evident that it will continue to plummet due to the absence of an economic future, validators will no longer be interested in holding ETH and, consequently, not willing to protect the network."

On the other hand, blockchain expert Cygaar emphasized that layer-2 networks are not yet "fully developed" and have not attained the same security level as Ethereum due to existing challenges such as network centralization, upgradeable bridge contracts, and evolving proving systems. Therefore, he argued that integrating layer-3 networks on top of layer-2s could heighten risks and jeopardize the security of these blockchain networks.