Modular chains, to put it simply, really only matter to end users in two ways: transfers that don’t lag or get stuck, and fees that don’t just keep getting expensive. As for how the execution layer and data layer are separated and put together, for most people it mostly comes down to the difference between “after I click confirm, how long will I have to wait?” and “will failures just burn my money for nothing?” Now the Layer 2 day-to-day talk is a constant back-and-forth comparing TPS, comparing fees, and comparing subsidies. It feels a bit like how the mining scene used to compete—who could get lower electricity prices. Back then, you could take a broad, macro view of the hashrate curve; now it’s more about which chain has better ordering, cross-chain support, and a wallet experience that doesn’t cause you endless hassle. If modularity really lands well, users should feel like “I can switch back and forth, but I don’t have to worry about it.” If it only lands in a mediocre way, then it turns into more bridges and more pitfalls… In any case, I’m going to focus first on projects that actually reduce failure rates and cross-chain latency; the rest can wait.