{"id":827,"date":"2026-02-17T22:56:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/?p=827"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:56:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:56:05","slug":"vitalik-buterin-ethereum-remains-neutral-users-can-disagree-freely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/vitalik-buterin-ethereum-remains-neutral-users-can-disagree-freely\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum Remains Neutral, Users Can Disagree Freely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"384\" data-id=\"828\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1120-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-828\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1120-1.jpeg 576w, https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1120-1-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasized that users do not need to share his views on applications, trust assumptions, politics, decentralized finance, social platforms, privacy payments, artificial intelligence, or cultural preferences to freely use the Ethereum network. He believes that disagreement on one topic does not imply agreement or disagreement on any other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cCorposlop\u201d Is Not Censorship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a detailed post on X, Buterin clarified that he does not represent the entire Ethereum ecosystem. He described Ethereum as a decentralized protocol built for permissionless use and censorship resistance, allowing anyone to interact with the network regardless of his opinions, the Ethereum Foundation, or Ethereum client developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He stated that labeling applications he dislikes as \u201ccorposlop\u201d does not constitute censorship. Free speech, he argued, means individuals cannot prevent others from acting, though criticism is allowed and expected, just as critics themselves can be critiqued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buterin rejected the idea of \u201cpretend neutrality,\u201d where individuals claim openness to all perspectives while avoiding taking clear positions. He said neutrality is appropriate for protocols such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, or HTTP, but individuals should clearly state their principles, identify what conflicts with them, and collaborate with like-minded people to build metaverses that respect those principles as a baseline. He explained that principles naturally extend beyond protocol design into decisions about what should be built on top of the protocol and into broader social and cultural contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Freedom Extends Beyond Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also warned against treating freedom as relevant only to technical design, calling this approach hollow. Decentralized protocols do not belong to a single metaverse, and people often agree on some aspects while disagreeing on others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buterin\u2019s remarks follow his recent comments supporting Bitcoin maximalists\u2019 concerns about digital sovereignty. He argued that today\u2019s internet favors corporate-controlled systems that erode user autonomy and that true sovereignty involves protecting privacy, attention, and control from profit-driven platforms not just resisting governments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasized that users do not need to share his views on applications, trust assumptions, politics, decentralized finance, social platforms, privacy payments, artificial&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":829,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827\/revisions\/829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}