Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delivered a keynote speech at EthCC on Wednesday, urging blockchain developers to focus on liberating humanity through their inventions rather than building more advanced technological tools.
Buterin compared the spirit of personal freedom from the early internet of the 1990s to the current spirit of blockchain, pointing out that the free and open internet advocated by early digital rights champion John Perry Barlow has been lost in the Web2 era.
The Ethereum co-founder described Web2 as a collection of "walled gardens," warning the audience that many Web2 founders packaged themselves as advocates for freedom in the early days but later became known for their censorship policies. Buterin cautioned Web3 founders not to fall into the same trap:
He continued to tell the audience, "If you are building something, the first question to ask is: Are you giving your users freedom?"
Freedom and personal liberty are hallmarks of the cypherpunk movement, which provided support in the early days of cryptocurrency, but as the industry matured and attracted government officials, international companies, and banks, many are concerned that the early cypherpunk spirit is giving way to institutional inertia.
The cypherpunk movement consists of software developers who believe in protecting privacy and personal freedom through end-to-end encryption, beginning in the 1980s.
Early cypherpunks played a significant role in promoting digital encryption when the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) attempted to impose restrictions on the use and export of encryption technology in the 1990s.
In the early stages of cryptocurrency, from 2009 to around 2021, ideals such as privacy, censorship resistance, parallel system building, and libertarian political theory were synonymous with the industry.
However, the growth of the cryptocurrency industry and the rapid price appreciation of its underlying digital assets continue to attract institutional interest from businesses and governments.
These institutional participants, referred to by many Bitcoin and cryptocurrency advocates as "suit-wearing crypto people," have become a dividing line, splitting the cryptocurrency community into those focused on growth and those wishing to maintain the early anti-establishment spirit.
Related: Cryptocurrency Revolution: Returning to Humanity, Beyond Technology
Original: “Vitalik Buterin: Cryptocurrency Should Be About Liberating Humanity, Not Esoteric Tech”
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