Open Letter to the Metis Community: Metis is no longer “just an L2”

Metis is no longer “just an L2”

Prelude

Metis has stayed on one clear course, most recently reaffirmed at ETHDenver on March 6th, 2025. From the beginning, our aim has been consistent: not to be another Layer 2, but to build infrastructure that evolves, experiments, and sets the direction for tomorrow. We began by scaling Ethereum and have steadily expanded toward a future where blockchain and AI move together.

Traditional L2s need upgrading. That is why we built Hyperion, our AI-optimized infrastructure layer that raises throughput and lowers latency. But infrastructure alone is not enough. To bring communities in, we must layer playability and meaningful interactions on top.

LazAI, our application and data layer, is where playability comes alive. It makes infrastructure interactive, aligns with market demand, and builds community confidence.

Metis is the beta ground for new bets, the place where daring ideas are tested, refined, and scaled before they shape the industry at large. As we continue this path, we must grow together, anchored by trust and clarity.

A Toolkit for One Economy: From Settlement to Playability

Metis’s strength is in its unity. We are not scattering value into silos; we are building a connected toolkit under one economy.

Andromeda serves as the settlement and trading layer. Hyperion expands that base with scalable compute, optimized for AI dApps that demand high throughput and low latency. Together, they form the infrastructure. On top sits LazAI, serving as the application layer, transforming this foundation into playability, points, data, and AI-driven value.

Step by step, the toolkit expands. Value builds as the layers connect. Recent milestones show this evolution in motion. Andromeda continues as the battle-tested motherchain. HyperHack drew more than 100 active Hyperion builders. LazAI Testnet launched with Lazbubu proving real playability. Our AI Companion DAT Lazbubu enrolled over 90k participants in the Whitelist Campaign and over 10,000 DAT mints.

Putting Users First in the Journey

Participation begins with simple entry points that spark curiosity. From there, users move into richer experiences where AI, data, and community features make engagement meaningful.

The path is clear. LazAI incubates agents and applications through LazPad, while users earn, mint, and interact with data assets that mature into broader use cases on Andromeda. Lazbubu is the first step, showing how evolving AI Companions can anchor this journey.

These are not static NFTs, but AI agents that evolve over time, transforming innovation into experiences that align with market demand and foster confidence within our community.

Closing

As I shared in a previous letter, our strength comes from trust and clarity. The earlier you take part in these new layers, the more your participation will guide their growth, and over time your efforts may be recognized in ways that matter.

Metis is shaping the beta ground for the next era. With clear paths for participation through LazAI and Lazbubu, and with a culture that dares while staying principled, we are ready for what’s next.

This is not the time to stand still. This is the time to lean in, experiment, and co-create the future.

Together, we will make Metis not just a network but the proving ground where tomorrow’s breakthroughs are born.

Elena Sinelnikova :herb:

18 Likes

I’ve been following Metis for over 3 years, and it’s impressive to see it evolve beyond just an L2. Playing with LazAI and Lazbubu actually makes me feel like I’m part of shaping the network, not just observing it. What new features or updates should we look forward to next?

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Thank you, @Elena , for laying out this vision so clearly. The consistency of Metis’s direction—from ETHDenver to today—gives the community real confidence that we are not chasing trends, but steadily building toward something much bigger.

The combination of Andromeda, Hyperion, and LazAI feels like a natural evolution, especially with Lazbubu showing how playability and AI companions can make infrastructure approachable and engaging. It’s exciting to see Metis positioning itself as the “beta ground” where bold ideas are not just tested, but scaled.

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A user-first AI economy is brewing :herb: lezz go!

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Web3 needs this reminder that Metis has evolved more than just an L2 which makes us unique

Thank you for the reassurance and reminder, Elena

Let’s get this out there to people!

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I love this, @Elena!

90,000 whitelist participants and 10,000 DAT mints prove Metis creates cultural moments, not just infrastructure. The beta ground positioning turns early adopters into co-creators.

Your three layers serve different users without forcing compromises.

  • Builders get Hyperion’s experiments.
  • Traders keep Andromeda’s stability.
  • New users access LazAI easily.

Imho, this segmentation (and interoperability) beats every other L2’s one-size-fits-all approach.

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Really like how this shows Metis moving different from other L2s. Not just scaling, but building a whole ecosystem. Curious to see how DATs and the new layers actually connect in practice. Exciting stuff

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Been here from the beginning and witnessed the innovative structure of the Metis foundation, the stats from the concluded campaigns proves that.

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Is Metis interested in Consumer Applications, though?

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Yes, any applications that are using DAT and/or Alith.

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How. Old is metis?

3years is a long time.

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It’s a lil strange u don’t see any consumer app in the hyper hack winners.

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Yeah, but is Metis interested in consumer dApps, though?

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Metis and its playability era LFG

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This is wonderful, what do you think about having a lead in the future of AI in the web3 space.

I believe how you manage this will break or make the AI integration for the rest of the builders and users.

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Thanks @Elena , for bringing clarity and openness to the Metis community!

I’d also like to add a few of my words: that in today’s landscape, the AI × blockchain segment is one of the most promising directions, and there are currently no solutions comparable to LazAI or Hyperion. These are truly forward-looking innovations designed for the next decade (and beyond). AI is here, it’s evolving fast, and Metis is already ahead of the curve, building what others will only start thinking about later.

At the same time, Metis L2 (Andromeda) remains our core product and continues to grow. We’ve recently confirmed Stage 0, and Stage 1 is coming. It’s not “just an L2” - it’s our settlement layer, the foundation of the entire Metis ecosystem, while our focus expands into the products that are shaping the future.

We’ve also committed to a new ERC token standard and have already submitted our EIP proposal:
:link: https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/erc-8028-data-anchoring-token-dat/25512

Would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our new innovations!

And I’d like to close with one of my favorite quotes from Elena that I heard on ETH Denver:

“Metis is a pioneer of blockchain technology, we were the first to build a decentralized sequencer, and we’re doing it again by creating AI infrastructure on-chain.”

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