Ethereum’s Buterin: ‘My Power Will Continue to Decrease’

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has noted that his influence over the Ethereum Foundation organization is shrinking (and this is happening by design). 

The Canadian prodigy envisions a future where the EF operates as a “smaller ship.” 

Leaving the limelight 

Buterin has clarified that the EF is not aspiring to be the absolute core of the ecosystem. 

The foundation’s board is currently expanding, and Buterin has stressed that he holds “no extra special powers on the board that the other board members do not.”

“The board is in the process of expanding, and my own power within the org will continue to decrease, which is honestly what I want,” Buterin stated.

He reiterated that the EF was never meant to be an “eternal steward” or the definitive center of the network. 

Selling less ETH 

Buterin has stressed that the EF operates with limited resources (it holds roughly) 0.16% of the total ETH supply. This is substantially less than the foundations behind many competing layer-1 blockchains.

The EF is currently in the process of restructuring its long-term treasury management. In such a way, it will be able to achieve long-term sustainability.

“The EF is choosing to use its remaining resources to pursue longevity over breadth (yes, this means we sell less ETH),” Buterin explained. 

Chasing ‘impressive’ tech over pure speed

Buterin also notably took aim at the industry’s obsession with chasing maximum throughput. This might come at the expense of decentralization and security. 

He argued that simply achieving 250-millisecond latency and one million transactions per second (TPS) while sacrificing core network properties is a mistake.

“Being as fast and as scalable as possible, and only a small epsilon more decentralized than the others, is a route to mediocrity, and if we try it we will lose,” he warned.

Instead, Buterin insisted that “Ethereum must be impressive” in more fundamental ways. The key goals include provably bug-free code, available chain consensus as well as intermediary minimization.