Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has issued one of his starkest warnings yet: if the network continues to focus on DeFi, obsessed with returns and political coins, it will betray Ethereum’s original mission.
Ethereum beyond DeFi
In an article published on social network
He argues that Ethereum appears largely absent from meaningfully improving the lives of people subject to these forces, even in the dimensions the ecosystem claims to care about most: freedom, privacy, security of digital life, and community self-organization. Buterin states:
Ethereum seems incapable of meaningfully improving the lives of people subject to these things, even in dimensions we care deeply about (e.g. freedom, privacy, digital life security, community self-organization).
Buterin emphasizes that his criticism is not aimed at DeFi itself. On the one hand, he warns against the narrow culture that has grown up around it, made up of hollow tendencies that turn politics and real-world concerns into spectacle through political coin-ops and “various zero-sum gaming applications.”
On the other hand, he laments that if Ethereum continues to focus on finance, its impact on improving people’s lives will remain minimal, a stark contrast to what he calls “liberating technologies” like Starlink or Signal, which are already reshaping the balance of power in the real world. He recognizes the importance of financial freedom, but says it is no longer enough. Buterin added:
Financial freedom and security are essential. But it seems clear that while the addition of a perfectly free, open, sovereign and tamper-proof financial system would solve some things, it would leave unaddressed most of our deep concerns about the world. It’s okay for individuals to focus on finance, but we need to be part of a larger whole that also has a say on other issues.
The Path to Sanctuary Technologies
Understanding that “Ethereum can’t fix the world,” Buterin proposes that Ethereum should see itself as “part of an ecosystem building ‘sanctuary technologies’.” This means tools that give people space to communicate, organize, and hold value where states and corporations cannot easily monitor, censor, or confiscate.
The objective is detotalization
The ambitious and holistic approach suggested by Buterin pursues one main goal: “enabling interdependence that cannot be weaponized,” as opposed to remaking the world in the form of Ethereum. In summary, Buterin asserts that this interdependence rests on four pillars: finance (ETH, stablecoins, DeFi), communication (encrypted messages, censorship-resistant social networks), coordination (DAO, crowdfunding, mutual aid) and identity (non-custodial identifiers and reputation). In the words of Buterin:
The role of Ethereum is to create a “digital space” where different entities can cooperate and interact.
When crypto becomes a survival technology
Crypto has already shown what it looks like when blockchains become survival tools rather than trading platforms. In countries like Venezuela, families use stablecoins and Bitcoin to route remittances around capital controls, protect their economies from hyperinflation, and move money when local banks collapse or become instruments of state control and beyond. Activists and dissidents rely on censorship-resistant rails to gain support, fund legal defenses and simply stay connected to a global economy from which their governments are trying to cut them off.
According to an article published on our sister site NewsBTC, crypto has become a financial lifeline for ordinary Iranian households amid political unrest and economic collapse. For ordinary users, crypto remains a beacon of hope against capital controls and inflation.
Whether Ethereum delivers on Vitalik Buterin’s promise will determine not only its market capitalization, but also its relevance in a world where financial censorship and digital authoritarianism are no longer assumptions.
ETH's price trends to the upside on the daily chart. Source: ETHUSD on Tradingview
Cover image from ChatGPT, ETHUSD chart from Tradingview
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