Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin believes that integrating decentralization and cooperation is one of the most pressing social challenges in the Ethereum ecosystem. There is a diverse group of researchers and developers who are “all building their own vision of what Ethereum can be,” Buterin wrote on his blog on Saturday. He noted:
“The main challenge is ensuring that all of these projects collectively build something that resembles a single Ethereum ecosystem, not 138 incompatible fiefdoms.”
The concept of “Ethereum Alignment” has been proposed as a solution. However, the concept has so far been “poorly defined”. To resolve the problem, Buterin proposes that “the concept of alignment be made more legiblebroken down into specific properties, which can be represented by specific metrics.
Ethereum Alignment Metrics
Buterin believes that each project will have its own list of properties and measurements that will “inevitably change over time.” However, it established some basic criteria to check whether applications are aligned with Ethereum’s long-term vision and goals.
1. Open:
Buterin says there are two main benefits to using open source software for Ethereum applications. First, keeping codes open and inspectable ensures security. Second, it reduces the risk of proprietary lock-in and allows third-party enhancements without authorization.
Buterin is practical and understands that the entire application does not need to be open source. However, he believes that “the core infrastructure components that the ecosystem depends on absolutely should be.” He called the FSF free software and OSI open source definitions the “gold standard.”
2. Open standards:
According to Buterin, applications should aim for interoperability with the Ethereum ecosystem and rely on open standards, both those that exist and those that have yet to be implemented. Common Ethereum standards include ERC-20 and ERC-1271. Buterin suggests writing a new ERC when introducing functionality that existing standards cannot handle.
3. Decentralization and security:
The goal is to avoid trust points and minimize censorship loopholes and reliance on centralized infrastructure. Buterin suggests the settings for leak test and internal attack test.
During release testing, applications must determine whether they will be able to continue functioning if the team and servers disappear tomorrow. During internal attack testing, the project must assess the damage that could be caused if the team itself attacks the system.
4. Positive sum
According to Buterin, projects must positively contribute and benefit the entire Ethereum community, including ETH holders and users, as well as the world at large. For the first part, projects can use ETH as a token and contribute to its network effect, open source technology or donate a percentage of their tokens or revenue to public assets in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Buterin advises projects to ask themselves the following questions:
“Ethereum is here to make the world a more free and open place, enable new forms of ownership and collaboration, and contribute positively to the important challenges facing humanity. Does your project do this?
Buterin says his “ideal goal” is to see more entities like L2beat, a layer 2 analytics platform, emerge to track how well Ethereum projects follow Ethereum alignment criteria. He warns, however, that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) must distance itself from the process to maintain decentralization.
According to Buterin, having specific criteria can help the FE and others understand which projects they want to support and use. He adds:
“If we do more to make the different aspects of alignment legible, without centralizing them in a single ‘observer,’ we can make the concept much more effective, fair and inclusive, as the Ethereum ecosystem strives to do. be.”
