# Make Ethereum Cypherpunk Again ![rw-book-cover](http://vitalik.ca/images/icon.png) URL:: https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2023/12/28/cypherpunk.html Author:: Vitalik Buterin ## Highlights > Namely, to make at least a part of the Ethereum ecosystem **actually be the permissionless, decentralized, censorship resistant, open source ecosystem that we originally came to build**. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hm4b34cvafajj95drwsqpaac)) > What are some of these values? > Many of these values are shared not just by many in the Ethereum community, but also by other blockchain communities, and even non-blockchain decentralization communities, though each community has its own unique combination of these values and how much each one is emphasized. > • **Open global participation**: anyone in the world should be able to participate as a user, observer or developer, on a maximally equal footing. Participation should be **permissionless**. > • **Decentralization**: minimize the dependence of an application on any one single actor. In particular, **an application should continue working even if its core developers disappear forever**. > • **Censorship resistance**: centralized actors should not have the power to interfere with any given user's or application's ability to operate. Concerns around bad actors should be addressed at higher layers of the stack. > • **Auditability**: anyone should be able to validate an application's logic and its ongoing operation (eg. by running a full node) to make sure that it is operating according to the rules that its developers claim it is. > • **Credible neutrality**: base-layer infrastructure [should be neutral](https://nakamoto.com/credible-neutrality/), and in such a way that anyone can see that it is neutral even if they do not already trust the developers. > • **Building tools, not empires**. Empires try to capture and trap the user inside a walled garden; tools do their task but otherwise interoperate with a wider open ecosystem. > • **Cooperative mindset**: even while competing, projects within the ecosystem cooperate on shared software libraries, research, security, community building and other areas that are commonly valuable to them. Projects **try to be positive-sum, both with each other and with the wider world**. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hm4b2wjkg0h5qm40314nd48t)) --- Title: Make Ethereum Cypherpunk Again Author: Vitalik Buterin Tags: readwise, articles date: 2024-01-30 --- # Make Ethereum Cypherpunk Again ![rw-book-cover](http://vitalik.ca/images/icon.png) URL:: https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2023/12/28/cypherpunk.html Author:: Vitalik Buterin ## AI-Generated Summary The article discusses the original vision of Ethereum as a public decentralized shared hard drive and the importance of building a permissionless, decentralized, censorship-resistant, open-source ecosystem. The author argues that the crypto world is a perfect testbed environment to take an open and decentralized approach to security and actually apply it in a realistic high-stakes environment. The article suggests the contours of what an Ethereum-y cypherpunk world would look like, at least on a pure technical level, where payments, decentralized social media, and various storage layers would use the different parts of the decentralized stack together. ## Highlights > Namely, to make at least a part of the Ethereum ecosystem **actually be the permissionless, decentralized, censorship resistant, open source ecosystem that we originally came to build**. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hm4b34cvafajj95drwsqpaac)) > What are some of these values? > Many of these values are shared not just by many in the Ethereum community, but also by other blockchain communities, and even non-blockchain decentralization communities, though each community has its own unique combination of these values and how much each one is emphasized. > • **Open global participation**: anyone in the world should be able to participate as a user, observer or developer, on a maximally equal footing. Participation should be **permissionless**. > • **Decentralization**: minimize the dependence of an application on any one single actor. In particular, **an application should continue working even if its core developers disappear forever**. > • **Censorship resistance**: centralized actors should not have the power to interfere with any given user's or application's ability to operate. Concerns around bad actors should be addressed at higher layers of the stack. > • **Auditability**: anyone should be able to validate an application's logic and its ongoing operation (eg. by running a full node) to make sure that it is operating according to the rules that its developers claim it is. > • **Credible neutrality**: base-layer infrastructure [should be neutral](https://nakamoto.com/credible-neutrality/), and in such a way that anyone can see that it is neutral even if they do not already trust the developers. > • **Building tools, not empires**. Empires try to capture and trap the user inside a walled garden; tools do their task but otherwise interoperate with a wider open ecosystem. > • **Cooperative mindset**: even while competing, projects within the ecosystem cooperate on shared software libraries, research, security, community building and other areas that are commonly valuable to them. Projects **try to be positive-sum, both with each other and with the wider world**. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hm4b2wjkg0h5qm40314nd48t))