SEC commissioners recently threw out a viewpoint that centralized L2s are essentially no different from exchanges, and could even face regulatory scrutiny. At first glance, it sounds absurd—why would L2s and exchanges be linked? As we all know, the vast majority of L2s today are completely centralized, with only one node operator, which is the company behind the L2 itself. Honestly, these L2s are pretty shameless in a way—on one hand, they wave the flag of decentralization, claiming to be permissionless, but on the other hand, they take all the profits for themselves, can modify on-chain transactions at will, and even shut down the network with a single click. In essence, they really are no different from an exchange entirely controlled by a single centralized entity. If the SEC truly pushes this viewpoint into policy, then these centralized L2s, which have been criticized for years, might actually be forced to decentralize in the end.