As the crypto perpetual futures market booms, Ethereum's role is shifting from directly hosting high-frequency trading to supporting the Layer-2 networks where much of this activity now takes place. Analysts and builders argue that Ethereum's base layer, while secure, is not optimized for the fast, low-cost transactions required by perpetuals. Instead, its strength lies in providing the settlement and collateral base, deep liquidity, and security for Layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and Base, which handle the active trading.