A coalition of Ethereum teams unveiled a new initiative at EthCC in Cannes today aimed at tackling one of the ecosystem’s thorniest problems: fragmentation across layer-2 networks.
Called the Ethereum Economic Zone (EEZ), the framework is being built by Gnosis, Zisk and the Ethereum Foundation. Gnosis brings long-standing infrastructure experience, Zisk contributes expertise in zero-knowledge proving, and the Foundation provides an anchor to the broader protocol community. The project intends to make many separate L2s behave more like a single, cohesive Ethereum environment.
Why it matters
For years, developers and users have relied on layer-2 networks to scale Ethereum. But those L2s frequently act as isolated “islands,” forcing users to hop between chains using bridges that can be slow, expensive and security-sensitive. Developers often end up duplicating the same tooling across multiple networks, and liquidity can become fragmented across parallel chains. That fragmentation has become the central UX and ecosystem challenge — even prompting calls from some core contributors to rethink parts of the L2-heavy roadmap.
What EEZ proposes
EEZ is designed to let apps, assets and transactions on different L2s interact instantly — without the user-visible need for bridges — while preserving Ethereum’s core security assumptions. In practice the framework aims to:
- Unify liquidity so funds can move and be used across networks more freely.
- Provide simpler, shared infrastructure to reduce duplication for developers.
- Smooth the user experience so wallets and apps feel like they’re operating in one system.
- Keep ETH as the primary fee token rather than spawning new native tokens.
The initiative is being developed openly with feedback from the wider Ethereum community and positioned explicitly as a response to fragmentation. “Ethereum doesn't have a scaling problem. It has a fragmentation problem. Every new L2 is a silo that makes it harder to seamlessly extend and drive value back to the Ethereum mainnet,” said Friederike Ernst, co-founder of Gnosis, in a press release shared with CoinDesk. “The EEZ is designed to do the opposite.”
Context and next steps
EEZ arrives amid renewed debate about how Ethereum should evolve its scaling stack. By focusing on interoperability, shared tooling and liquidity, the project aims to reduce the frictions that currently push users and developers toward isolated L2 experiences. Details on implementation timelines and technical specifications remain to be released as the groups continue community-driven development.
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