Vitalik Buterin calls for building blockchain for freedom, not just for technology.

Co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, delivered an important speech at the EthCC conference on Wednesday, where he urged blockchain developers to focus on liberating humanity through their creations, rather than merely pursuing increasingly complex technical tools.

Buterin compares the spirit of personal freedom of the Internet in the 1990s with the current spirit of the blockchain industry, emphasizing that the ideal of a free and open Internet that digital rights activists like John Perry Barlow once fought for has faded under Web2.

He describes Web2 as "walled gardens," while warning that many Web2 founders – who are now criticized for their censorship policies – once considered themselves champions of freedom in the early days. Buterin advises Web3 founders not to repeat that mistake:

"Cryptographers need to think more seriously about the social and ethical implications of the technology they are building. Don't just see it as a technical problem, but ask the question: Are you helping your users to be freer?"

"Suitcoiners" and the Confrontation with Rebellious Software Developers

The cypherpunk movement – composed of programmers who believe in protecting privacy and personal freedom through end-to-end encryption – has been forming since the 1980s.

In the 1990s, when the National Security Agency of the United States (NSA) wanted to restrict the use and export of encryption technology, it was the cypherpunks who were the key force in spreading encryption technology throughout the community.

From the early days of cryptocurrency, around 2009 to 2021, cypherpunk values such as privacy, anti-censorship, building parallel systems, and the philosophy of personal freedom were almost synonymous with the crypto industry.

However, the rapid development of the market and the value of digital assets have attracted increasing interest from organizations and governments.

These organizations – sarcastically referred to by the community as "suitcoiners" ( imply those who wear suits, representing financial interests ) – are becoming a dividing line in the crypto community: one side pursuing growth and acceptance, the other wanting to preserve the original spirit of resistance that gave birth to this industry.

Vương Tiễn