Dominic | Lisk

In work, as in life, it's all about the people... As we launch the @LiskHQ EMpower Fund, couldn't be more pumped to back not only exceptional startups, but exceptional people like @nael_idrx, @tejirijesse, & Costas! More great founders to be added soon. 👀

I’m thinking of starting a weekly series sharing stories from emerging markets and how crypto is solving problems for people. Every time I share one of these, the response is strong. Feels like there’s real appetite for this stuff. If you have a good story or know someone building something meaningful in these regions, send it my way. I’ll include it in the weekly series.

There have recently been some discussions on the ongoing role of L2s in the Ethereum ecosystem, especially in the face of two facts: * L2s' progress to stage 2 (and, secondarily, on interop) has been far slower and more difficult than originally expected * L1 itself is scaling, fees are very low, and gaslimits are projected to increase greatly in 2026 Both of these facts, for their own separate reasons, mean that the original vision of L2s and their role in Ethereum no longer makes sense, and we need a new path. First, let us recap the original vision. Ethereum needs to scale. The definition of "Ethereum scaling" is the existence of large quantities of block space that is backed by the full faith and credit of Ethereum - that is, block space where, if you do things (including with ETH) inside that block space, your activities are guaranteed to be valid, uncensored, unreverted, untouched, as long as Ethereum itself functions. If you create a 10000 TPS EVM where its connection to L1 is mediated by a multisig bridge, then you are not scaling Ethereum. This vision no longer makes sense. L1 does not need L2s to be "branded shards", because L1 is itself scaling. And L2s are not able or willing to satisfy the properties that a true "branded shard" would require. I've even seen at least one explicitly saying that they may never want to go beyond stage 1, not just for technical reasons around ZK-EVM safety, but also because their customers' regulatory needs require them to have ultimate control. This may be doing the right thing for your customers. But it should be obvious that if you are doing this, then you are not "scaling Ethereum" in the sense meant by the rollup-centric roadmap. But that's fine! it's fine because Ethereum itself is now scaling directly on L1, with large planned increases to its gas limit this year and the years ahead. We should stop thinking about L2s as literally being "branded shards" of Ethereum, with the social status and responsibilities that this entails. Instead, we can think of L2s as being a full spectrum, which includes both chains backed by the full faith and credit of Ethereum with various unique properties (eg. not just EVM), as well as a whole array of options at different levels of connection to Ethereum, that each person (or bot) is free to care about or not care about depending on their needs. What would I do today if I were an L2? * Identify a value add other than "scaling". Examples: (i) non-EVM specialized features/VMs around privacy, (ii) efficiency specialized around a particular application, (iii) truly extreme levels of scaling that even a greatly expanded L1 will not do, (iv) a totally different design for non-financial applications, eg. social, identity, AI, (v) ultra-low-latency and other sequencing properties, (vi) maybe built-in oracles or decentralized dispute resolution or other "non-computationally-verifiable" features * Be stage 1 at the minimum (otherwise you really are just a separate L1 with a bridge, and you should just call yourself that) if you're doing things with ETH or other ethereum-issued assets * Support maximum interoperability with Ethereum, though this will differ for each one (eg. what if you're not EVM, or even not financial?) From Ethereum's side, over the past few months I've become more convinced of the value of the native rollup precompile, particuarly once we have enshrined ZK-EVM proofs that we need anyway to scale L1. This is a precompile that verifies a ZK-EVM proof, and it's "part of Ethereum", so (i) it auto-upgrades along with Ethereum, and (ii) if the precompile has a bug, Ethereum will hard-fork to fix the bug. The native rollup precompile would make full, security-council-free, EVM verification accessible. We should spend much more time working out how to design it in such a way that if your L2 is "EVM plus other stuff", then the native rollup precompile would verify the EVM, and you only have to bring your own prover for the "other stuff" (eg. Stylus). This might involve a canonical way of exposing a lookup table between contract call inputs and outputs, and letting you provide your own values to the lookup table (that you would prove separately). This would make it easy to have safe, strong, trustless interoperability with Ethereum. It also enables synchronous composability (see: ethresear.ch/t/combining-pr… and ethresear.ch/t/synchronous-… ). And from there, it's each L2's choice exactly what they want to build. Don't just "extend L1", figure out something new to add. This of course means that some will add things that are trust-dependent, or backdoored, or otherwise insecure; this is unavoidable in a permissionless ecosystem where developers have freedom. Our job should make to make it clear to users what guarantees they have, and to build up the strongest Ethereum that we can.

The gold industry has a problem: Micro to medium-sized gold producers generate 20% of global gold output ($75B/year) yet face a $6.5B annual funding gap. The solution? @SigraFiHQ, powered by onchain capital markets and backed by the Lisk EMpower Fund 🧵 (1/7)

EdgeCasts 18 If you’re not having fun, it will be hard for you to stay as long as you need to succeed. @scristobal94 said somethings I believe everyone should hear. Crecimiento @crecimientoar does have quality people 💪🏻 >> supported by @Lisk and in partnership with @jamitHQ

What does Lisk mean to you? Hear it from other Founders as we kickoff 2026.

december marked one year since i joined the @LiskHQ team. i wrote a reflection on the year, the people & the work. you should read it 💛 chidubememelumadu.substack.com/p/one-year-tho…

The map of “where money goes” isn’t always the same as “where the best builders are.” Keep an eye on emerging markets👀

From Lagos to Nairobi: Covering Tech Stories Bayomi’s new documentary follows his journey to Kenya with @LiskHQ, showcasing how blockchain can transform Africa. Through @ayahq_ and @CV_Labs, Lisk provides founders with capital, mentorship, and hands-on support to build on its platform. With a $15 million fund, Lisk turns bold promises into real opportunities for Africa’s next generation of startups. This is a story of innovation, connection, and the future of African technology, told through Bayomi’s lens. youtu.be/4otnzo9S4U4?si…

every other week, i see a new organic/earned mention of @LiskHQ in the media, the work we do on the continent and the startups being built in the ecosystem. & i want to give a huge shoutout to the african journalists who’ve covered our work this year 💕 it’s incredibly important that these stories are told: the early foundations, the innovation, the growth and the impact happening on the ground, in real time. thank you! here are some of my fav features in media this year 🧵

Well, inflation has done more for digital assets adoption in Latin America than any marketing campaign. The attached @privy_io report profiles a "parallel financial stack" emerging across the region. And it confirms that the real necessity drives the real volume: – Brazil: 90% of crypto trading volume is stablecoins, mostly integrated with PIX. – Argentina: stablecoins already replace cash in parts of the informal economy. – Mexico: USDC remittances are routed through WhatsApp via apps like @Felixpago. It’s good to see that “crypto” is not just about crypto anymore. Full report below.

Emerging markets aren’t an expansion strategy. They’re the proving ground. These numbers just reflect what’s already happening: in EMs, web3 fits into behaviors that are already the norm. Founders in Africa, SEA and LatAm are building for everyday use, but VC access still sits under 5%. The Lisk EMpower Fund is built for that gap. Learn more 👉 lisk.com/fund/

Last night with @ETHKL1 🇲🇾✨ Loved sharing about @LiskHQ and chatting about what we could do to support the founders here!

Venture as an asset class is dead in the US Large US VCs aren’t “underperforming.” They’re getting smoked by small deep-tech & web3 funds in emerging markets. Silicon Valley keeps raising billion-dollar funds… …while delivering minuscule returns Meanwhile: – Latin America = 10.5% IRR – Africa = 11% IRR – Web3 funds = 25% IRR (2.5× general VC) – Micro-funds < $50M = 3× the returns of US mega-funds US VCs love narratives, podcasts, and panels. Emerging markets love profit. The next cycle’s winners aren’t in Sand Hill Road. They’re the specialised funds out-executing everyone while the big guys burn money and pray for DPI.

💰🌍 According to @StanChart, stablecoin-based savings in Emerging Markets could surge from US$173 B to ~US$1.22 T by 2028. What side of history are you on? 📰 fxstreet.com/cryptocurrenci… Full report available here 👇 sc.com/en/uploads/sit…

"L2s aren't generating fees for the L1, the L1 doesn't accrue value." That's like saying, when Facebook launched mobile: "Facebook, you’re not charging money for mobile." The more people used Facebook, the more valuable it became as a platform for advertising. Network effects kicked in, and today Facebook dominates advertising. It makes sense to let the L2s grow and create a huge ecosystem. If this is where everything is going to be built, then the L2s will accrue significant value. — @fundstrat

EdgeCasts 03 “If you want to go with the project, you’ll like to marry the project”. This is one major highlight from my chat with @fililoco founder of TxSentinel Did he get the backward spelling of EdgeCity correct?

EdgeCasts 07 | in Partnership with @jamitHQ Supported by @LiskHQ @whyKingdavid CEO of @lifeline_hq shares where he thinks founders needs support the most. He shares how LifeLine is helping many save over 90% of what they are spending now on insurance. Interviewer: @NjugunaMs1

EdgeCasts 06 | in Partnership with @jamitHQ, Supported by @LiskHQ @b3npayd founder & chief maverick @paydhq announced the $50k win yesterday and here in this interview, he shares his story and the story of Payd . He also shared his proudest moment.

EdgeCasts 04 This time with @Andr3sC4ll3 building @suno_finance The amazing thing is the story of how he improved so much in his English in his time with @LiskHQ @JoinEdgeCity Amazing solution he is building with his team in the solar industry

EdgeCast 01 And the first on the list is the CEO and cofounder of @useazza @ToochukwuOkoro2 Very insightful chat. In partnership with @jamitHQ Thanks to @JoinEdgeCity @LiskHQ