According to Cointelegraph, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has suggested developing a set of metrics to measure how well projects align with Ethereum's core values. In a blog post dated September 28, Buterin emphasized that achieving 'Ethereum alignment' is one of the most significant social challenges within the ecosystem. He acknowledged the difficulty of this task due to the diverse range of client teams, application developers, researchers, and local communities contributing to Ethereum in various ways.
Buterin highlighted the primary challenge of ensuring that all these projects collectively build a cohesive Ethereum ecosystem rather than fragmented, incompatible entities. He pointed out several starting points for alignment, such as the openness and interoperability of a project. This openness allows code to be inspected for security purposes, reduces the risk of proprietary lock-in, and enables third parties to make improvements. Buterin also suggested that applications and wallets could be rated based on their compatibility with different ERC standards.
Decentralization and security are other critical metrics that could be assessed using the 'walkaway' and 'insider attack' tests. Buterin explained that these tests evaluate whether an application would remain usable if its team and servers disappeared and how much damage could be inflicted if the team itself attempted to attack the system. Additionally, projects could be judged on their positive impact on the Ethereum community or humanity, such as improving financial inclusion and enabling new public funding mechanisms.
Buterin stressed the importance of Ethereum maintaining credible neutrality, warning that if alignment means merely having the right connections, the concept of alignment would fail. In July, Ethereum community member Ryan Berckmans emphasized to Cointelegraph the importance of limiting marketing efforts among Ethereum builders. He argued that excessive marketing could create a politically charged environment, hindering long-term growth and the adoption of on-chain activities by corporations and governments.
Buterin remains a highly influential figure in the Ethereum ecosystem. In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, remarked that Ethereum might be overly reliant on Buterin for direction. Hoskinson questioned the future of Ethereum's development if Buterin were to be removed from the equation, highlighting the challenges in maintaining momentum and achieving consensus on the next steps for the platform.
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