Let me set the context: I am not just 'talking on-chain'. I have genuinely written contracts in both ecosystems; I have dabbled in Cairo, but I am more familiar with Solidity. Ultimately, when making investment decisions, I placed more of my chips on Linea. The reason is quite simple: it is worry-free, time-saving, can run smoothly, and has controllable costs.
First, the cost of migration is a hard truth.
I moved a strategy contract that has been running on Ethereum L1 for two years to Linea, using the same original toolchain: Foundry/Hardhat, the same set of tests, and the same audit report, with almost 'zero changes' to the core logic. This is not metaphysics; it is the practical benefit of 'Ethereum equivalence': aligned at the bytecode level with L1, precompiled, events, and debugging stack are all straightforward. On the day of launch, my front-end colleagues switched the RPC to Linea, and the application came to life. The savings were not just in development time, but also in audit budget and the manpower for cross-chain debugging.
Second, user experience is the starting point of the growth curve.
I value two things: predictable confirmation times and costs. Linea follows the zk proof route, providing strong transaction certainty and less rollback anxiety; costs are cheap, but more importantly, they are 'stably cheap,' suitable for building daily active users. Anyone who makes products knows that gas prices that fluctuate too much can directly deter new users. Linea's current performance fits the range of 'low threshold but not cheap,' able to support both major promotions and daily operations.
Third, ecosystem synergy is the long-term alpha.
I have an old project that relies on a bunch of established Ethereum components: libraries, oracles, middleware, indexing services... On Linea, the completeness of the supply chain is surprisingly high. Developers do not have to relearn 'another worldview' or search for alternatives everywhere. You can understand it as 'moving Ethereum to a wider road': the rules remain the same, the speed increases, and the lanes multiply.
Fourth, security and governance are my most realistic concerns and one of the reasons I chose Linea.
I'm not saying anyone is perfect; L2 has to follow the path of 'first manageable, then regulated' in the early stages. Linea's rhythm on risk control, bridging, permission reduction, and decentralization of sorting gives me confidence: transparent disclosure, clear iterations, and emergency strategies during crises seem well-considered. I actually like this kind of 'engineering' conservatism—making money doesn't rely on fancy narratives but on systems having fewer bugs.
So why not StarkNet?
To be honest, StarkNet is also very hardcore technically, and I respect that. But as someone 'who wants to get the product out,' I care more about the current landing efficiency. The learning curve of Cairo is steep, ecosystem components need time to settle, and team collaboration and auditing systems need to be rebuilt... These are not drawbacks; they are choices of direction. But I have KPIs and a timeline, so I need to choose the stack that is most friendly to my current self. Linea provides me with the simplest certainty: familiar language + mature tools + Ethereum-level compatibility.
Fifth, the design of value recirculation has shown me a longer track.
Linea's direction has always closely followed Ethereum's principles: friendly to L1's settlement, security, funding, and liquidity. The narrative is not 'starting from scratch,' but 'making Ethereum bigger and stronger.' This is often overlooked by ordinary users, but institutions pay attention: when you close the value loop on the Ethereum side, compliance, capital inflow and outflow, and asset pricing become clearer. For someone like me, who writes code and also looks at the funding side, this is a significant advantage.
Finally, let me say something sentimental.
I used to not believe either. L2: Bridge issues, complex monitoring, and concerns about where black swans might be. But I have run several rounds of activities on Linea, pushed through two traffic peaks, and endured one severe market fluctuation. The data retention and user repurchase have convinced me. It is not mythical in engineering, but it is practical enough in business. I do not aspire to hit the 'coolest tech genre'; I just want to be on the side that can turn technology into reusable infrastructure.
So the conclusion is not fancy:
At the ZK EVM table, I bet on Linea. Not because of slogans, but because it has achieved a level where 'compatibility, performance, security, and ecosystem synergy'—these boring yet critical things—can be backed up with results. The next segment will be long, but I would rather choose a reliable highway than a scenic mountain road that is still under construction.
