Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has a message for the cryptocurrency industry: “Openness does not mean uncritical.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Buterin warned that the crypto community risks long-term damage if it blindly backs powerful people or projects just to boost price or visibility. According to him, the hardest but most important challenge for cryptocurrencies is learning what to support and what to reject.
“Luna wasn’t built on Ethereum by accident.”
One of Buterin’s most memorable statements was about the collapse of Terra’s Luna ecosystem.
He said it was no coincidence that Luna was not built on Ethereum, suggesting that Ethereum’s culture and standards acted as a filter. Buterin argued that while Ethereum is an open system, the community still shapes outcomes through the values they promote.
“We can’t prevent all bad behavior in open systems, but we can refuse to encourage it,” he said.
Risk of attracting the wrong crowd
Buterin explained that cryptocurrencies are a highly volatile space. It attracts the most thoughtful innovators, but also the bad guys.
It’s reputation that’s at stake, he said. When a community becomes known for welcoming everyone without oversight, it quickly attracts people like Do Kwon, whose actions would later undermine trust in the entire industry.
“Being too ‘friendly’ doesn’t just attract builders,” Buterin says. “It attracts even the worst players.”
A sharp critique of Bitcoin maximalism
Buterin reserved some of his strongest criticism to parts of the Bitcoin community.
He argued that Bitcoin supporters often praise the wealthy and powerful who publicly support Bitcoin without reservation, without questioning their methods or political actions.
As an example, he cited Nayib Bukele, whose government forced the adoption of Bitcoin through top-down orders.
Buterin said many Bitcoin supporters ignored concerns about democracy and personal freedom simply because the country was “adopting Bitcoin.”
“When prices come down and adoption is forced, everything becomes unsustainable,” he says.
Why top-down encryption deployments fail
Buterin emphasized that cryptocurrencies work best when adoption is voluntary rather than forced.
He said that in the case of El Salvador, the use of Bitcoin has not been able to expand meaningfully because people are required to use it but are not satisfied with it. As prices fell, so did public support.
For Buterin, this was a lesson in keeping cryptocurrencies out of society.
A different approach to Ethereum
Buterin said the Ethereum community is trying to take a different, albeit incomplete, path.
This includes:
- Encourage experimentation without glorifying bad behavior
- Report fraud, hacking, and unethical behavior
- Avoid blind loyalty to powerful patrons
He claimed that Ethereum “dodged a bullet” by not becoming home to certain high-risk projects.
What can you actually do?
Buterin was pragmatic. He acknowledged that there are limits to what open systems can control.
But community remains important, he said.
- Can educate users
- They can refuse to praise harmful actors
- Can support responsible innovation
- Collaborate with regulators without giving up decentralization
