Unchained Uneasy Money: Why Peter Steinberger and Non-Crypto People Hate the Crypto Mob
Feb 20, 2026
Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs — brief bio: builder behind LayerZero and the Zero blockchain. He unpacks Base leaving the OP Stack, Zora’s jump to Solana, why L2s may become independent L1s, institutional motives for owning rails, and how AI agents and open source reshape security and developer dynamics.
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Base Breaks From OP Stack
- Base's split from the OP Stack signals L2s may prefer owning their roadmap over strict Ethereum alignment.
- Fragmentation could rise as chains prioritize speed and control over joint coordination.
L2s May Become Independent L1s
- When rollup 'rent' or dependence on an L1 rises, L2s that hold users/value may fork into their own L1s.
- Base's move could be the bellwether for that long-run fragmentation thesis.
Coordination Costs Favor Small Teams
- Coordination costs across organizations have risen, making small, focused teams faster than large multi-org efforts.
- Speed-of-execution now often trumps multi-party standardization in product development.