Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin called for “bolder and more thoughtful” experimentation in Ethereum’s implementation layer, keeping the core principles intact.
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A bolder way for Ethereum
In a lengthy post on the X social network on March 5, Vitalik Buterin doubles down on rethinking the future of Ethereum. After his warning that Ethereum should not lose itself in a casino memecoin and agricultural harvest, he now asks that the builders have “a bolder mindset and open to many things”, this time especially to “the application layer and how we see ourselves in the world”.
Open minded
Before getting into his deep dive, Buterin explains that this open-mindedness shouldn’t leave people feeling insecure about network security protocols. The founder of Ethereum returns to his earlier concerns about Ethereum’s role outside of DeFi, reminding users once again what the ethos of the project is: technological and financial tools to give people more freedom.
We must not compromise the original properties: resistance to censorship, open source, privacy, security (CROPS). We shouldn’t have the kind of “open mind” that makes people unsure of what security features L1 will have a year from now.
“Technological issues”
Buterin first tackles what he calls the “technological direction” of the project. He believes that in terms of Ethereum’s application layer and interface to the world, “we must be willing to fundamentally rethink different concepts and step outside of our comfort zone.”
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The first aspect to be reviewed should be the application stack, “because the entire stack has not yet been built around privacy,” he says. The base layer of Ethereum is finally becoming a stable and efficient settlement engine, but the upper layers, such as L2s, wallets, DeFi, oracles and even future AI agents, often refocus Ethereum’s risks to overcome them. Buterin calls for creating radically new artificial intelligence and privacy applications, but doing so in a way that doesn’t destroy the on-chain cryptographic guarantees.
“It also includes culture”
He then moves on to another criticism of the short-term casino culture that seems to be taking over Ethereum. Referring to Milady NFT, he draws attention to a specific cryptographic vibe: hyper-online, poisoned, degenerate, meme-based assumptions.
For Buterin, Milady represents an environment where interest, aesthetics, and in-group memes are more important than building tools to help people under capital control, censorship, or real economic pressure. At the invitation of Milady, he asks: are we optimizing Ethereum for this kind of self-indulgent and nihilistic entertainment, or are we finally sending the “sacred technology” that someone in a crisis really relies on?. He says:
Yes, it’s a stupid memory. Yes, I find the political views of some partisan partisans sad and sometimes disrespectful (although other partisans in AD are the opposite). But the real subtext, the message behind the message, is this: ditch the suit and tie. If you have your suit and tie on, be prepared to grab the nearest wine bottle and pour it all over your suit and tie, then you have no choice but to tear it off and restore full flexibility and freedom to your body.
“How Ethereum Can Get Stronger”
At the end of his reflection, Vitalik Buterin makes it very clear. Recognizing the “stable position” of the project now and all the “amazing” things Ethereum has achieved, the goal should no longer be to look for “the next step to make it one step better”, but to ask “what are the most valuable things to build on, given what we know now?”.
Buterin says that Ethereum can only become stronger if its developers treat its core as an inaccessible public infrastructure and push all the wild experiments to AI applications, privacy first and L2s, which still inherit its unreliable guarantees.
ETH's price trends to the downside on the daily chart. Source: ETHUSD on Tradingview
Cover image from ChatGPT, ETHUSD chart from Tradingview
