What Vitalik Buterin thinks about crypto
Co-founder of Ethereum. Publishes long essays on mechanism design, governance and what cryptography is for, and returns to his earlier positions to say which parts he no longer holds.
Vitalik Buterin did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
Filter crypto · Newest first
Only Vitalik Buterin on crypto. See everyone on crypto
3 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Vitalik Buterin has said — not written or endorsed by them.
-
Their wordsAs an AI might say, the only honest conclusion (ok fine, the honest punchline) is that a modern cryptographic network like the post-Lean-upgrade Ethereum is called a "blockchain" to a large extent for historical reasons.
-
Their wordsThe most important conclusion is that the set of tradeoffs for users is radically changing:
-
Their wordsPerhaps the most important shift is that the decentralized nature of the network is shifting from being purely a burden incurred in the name of safety and robustness to at least sometimes, in a few limited cases, being a strength even from a performance perspective.