According to @alice_und_bob, a Stage 2 L2 is fully controlled by code with no centralized points of failure, source: @alice_und_bob on X and L2BEAT Stages documentation. L2BEAT defines Stage 2 networks as having live trustless state validation via fraud or validity proofs, permissionless exits and censorship resistance, and no privileged upgrade keys that can seize or halt user funds, source: L2BEAT Stages framework. For trading risk assessment on ETH L2s, L2BEAT’s dashboard classifies each network’s stage so Stage 2 denotes lower trust assumptions versus Stage 0 or Stage 1, enabling objective comparison across rollups, source: L2BEAT dashboard and Stages documentation.

According to Lex Sokolin, the current Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, including zkRollups and optimistic rollups, are not only scaling the network for human users but are also laying the groundwork for future AI-driven economies on ETH. These scaling technologies are positioning Ethereum as the foundation for automated, high-frequency transactions necessary for AI agents, which could increase network activity and liquidity, potentially driving higher trading volumes and volatility for ETH and related tokens. Source: Lex Sokolin.