Vitalik Buterin, co‑founder of Ethereum, said on X on Friday that the network has traded decentralization, privacy and self‑sovereignty for mainstream adoption. He said that trend must stop and the ecosystem should recover those core values.
“2026 is the year that we take back lost ground in terms of self‑sovereignty and trustlessness,”
He called for private payments, easier full‑node operation, and dapps that avoid central servers. He also urged tools for users to control on‑chain data and better social recovery wallets.
Buterin said upcoming upgrades like the Kohaku release and the Glamsterdam fork should help. A related post by David Walsh echoed the push for renewed decentralization.
He said Ethereum must pass the “walkaway test” and become self‑sustaining for decades. Quantum resistance, scalability and improved block building were among the required upgrades he identified.
He also called for decentralized stablecoins backed by diversified baskets of assets and currencies, rather than dependence on a single national currency.
