Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is calling for the crypto industry to prioritize decentralization and user-centric development as the sector experiences mainstream adoption. Buterin is right to focus us back on the ecosystem’s original principles, focusing on solving core protocol problems and building long term durability into the system. He argues the industry is at an “inflection point,” needing to prioritize sustainable growth and true decentralization.

Buterin’s interests seem primarily focused on protecting Ethereum’s longevity and its resilience to environmental, political, and institutional threats. He focuses on creating systems that walk-away test. He is on a mission to shrink the trusted base of code and improve resistance to insider attacks. These tests are an important aspect of protecting the integrity and security of the Ethereum network.

The other big consideration for Buterin is the walk-away test. He dives into the insider attack test, which assesses the risk of damage from bad insiders or busted front-ends. In addition, he judges the size of the trusted computing base. This evaluation drives how much code we should have to trust in order to protect user funds and data.

Buterin warned against over-expectation on zero-knowledge proofs. He cautioned that users would inadvertently expose their full transaction history if logging in with centralized services. This further underscores the need to thoughtfully implement and consider privacy implications in decentralized technologies.

Buterin is not without pressure from the community to push hard on core protocol issues. One of these proposals would replace Ethereum’s current EVM with RISC-V.

With the Ethereum blockchain now nearing its 10th birthday, Buterin says the industry needs to grow up, fast. This growing support from Fortune 500 companies and national office holders alike is evidence of a shift towards mainstream acceptance.

"Ethereum inevitably just becomes a generational thing, and it inevitably passes like a lot of other things have passed before." - Vitalik Buterin