Here's a memo I wrote internally at Sovereign about this 2 years ago -- in September 2023. I believe it's being validated, but the "why" section is more nuanced than what I wrote here. I now believe that "higher value capture" is as central to the "why" as higher customizability and performance. Here you go: """ At Sovereign, we’re betting on app-specific rollups to become the dominant form of blockchain compute. Much like mainframes in the '70s, L1 blockchains are too expensive NOT to share. But with the advent of rollup frameworks (like Sovereign SDK) and Rollup-as-a-Service platforms, the barriers to launching new blockchains are disappearing. Developers of application-specific blockchains no longer need to bootstrap validator sets; instead, they can simply pay for data as they go. Just as the advent of low-cost computers led to a movement away from timesharing, we expect that lowered barriers to launching blockchains will lead to a proliferation of applications built as standalone blockchains. Why? Because standalone chains enable developers to move beyond the restrictions imposed by general-purpose virtual machines and, as a result, build superior applications. Developers can now eliminate the gas concept entirely, introduce auto-triggered functions at every block or transaction, rearrange transactions, operate blazing-fast sequencers, and trivially create indexers tailored to their application's requirements. All because they're NOT running their application on a general-purpose virtual machine. We believe any blockchain application built as a smart contract on a general-purpose chain can be improved by leveraging the greater customization of being built as a standalone chain. """