Absolutely, all the stuff built on ETH (defi, automated exchanges, nfts) can't truly take off when gas fees can cost 20-80 USD per action. There's already a blockchain that acts as a store of value, the world doesn't need a second bitcoin.
L2 (second layer) solutions like Optimism will fix the scaling issue. It's live with a limited Synthetix release now and will be open to the general public on the 15th. Many large projects including Uniswap, Compound, and Chainlink have said they will be migrating to Optimism L2. It's very simple to do (little to no changes needed) and with big names committing it seems to be the L2 of choice. WalletConnect, Metamask, and Coinbase have also said they'll be supporting it with Metamask and WalletConnect integration complete and WalletConnect in beta testing.
It seems to me that MATIC is making a good play as well.
Matic is not an L2 though, it is a side chain. The reason L2s like optimism are exciting is because they inherit the security of ethereum mainnet. (matic has its own consensus mechanisms).
Optimism also isn't rent seeking with their own coin. All gas is still paid in ETH.
I would call L2 coins rent seekers. Reducing gas,increasing thruput among other things
Exactly, it's a money grab. Optimism doesn't have a coin and have no plans to create one. ETH is be the only way to pay for gas on their rollup just as is the case on L1.
sorry, typo. I don't view matic as rent seekers. The opposite of your view.