Vitalik Buterin Backs Manifesto to Combat the Creeping Centralization in Blockchain
The Crypto Paradox: Are We Trading Decentralization for Convenience?
Blockchain technology was born from a powerful idea: to create a decentralized world free from the control of single entities. Yet, a growing trend threatens this core principle from within. In the race for speed and user-friendliness, many projects are quietly leaning on centralized services, creating hidden risks that could undermine the entire ecosystem. Now, a new initiative backed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is sounding the alarm.
Researchers at the Ethereum Foundation have released a “Trustless Manifesto,” a powerful call to action for developers to recommit to the foundational values of decentralization. This document directly confronts the uncomfortable truth about the industry’s increasing reliance on centralized infrastructure, urging a return to the principles that make blockchain revolutionary.
What is the Trustless Manifesto?
Co-authored by Ethereum Foundation researchers Yoav Weiss and Marissa, with significant input from Vitalik Buterin, the manifesto argues that Ethereum was designed for trustless coordination, not just financial efficiency. It’s a declaration of values championing:
- Credible Neutrality: The system doesn’t favor any single participant.
- Self-Custody: You, and only you, control your assets.
- Verifiability: Anyone can independently check and confirm transactions.
- Resistance to ‘Convenient’ Centralization: Avoiding shortcuts that create dependencies on single companies or services.
The authors warn that even small compromises, like using a hosted node service or a controlled relayer, can set a dangerous precedent. These decisions, often made in the name of simplicity, chip away at a network’s permissionless nature and independence, creating a slippery slope back towards the centralized systems crypto was meant to replace.
A Wake-Up Call: When Centralized Pillars Tumble
The manifesto’s warnings are not just theoretical. The risks of what Vitalik Buterin backs a manifesto to combat — the
Coinbase’s Layer 2 network, Base, saw its transaction capacity plummet by roughly 25% because its single, AWS-hosted sequencer went down. A sequencer is a critical component for Layer 2s, responsible for ordering and batching transactions before sending them to the main Ethereum blockchain.
In contrast, other major Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism remained operational. Their secret? They distribute their infrastructure across multiple cloud providers, avoiding a single point of failure. This incident served as a practical, high-stakes lesson on the dangers of putting all your eggs in one centralized basket.
The Layer 2 Sequencer Problem
The AWS outage highlighted a specific vulnerability that has drawn mounting criticism: the centralized sequencer. While incredibly effective at boosting speed and lowering transaction costs, relying on a single entity to order transactions introduces significant risks:
- Single Point of Failure: If the sequencer goes offline, the network halts or is severely degraded, as seen with Base.
- Censorship Risk: A single operator could theoretically choose to ignore or delay certain transactions.
- Delayed Decentralization: Many Layer 2 networks, including Optimism, Arbitrum, and Base, have launched with single sequencers, promising to decentralize them over time. However, these roadmaps have often been postponed, slowing the transition to a more trustless model.
A New Metric for Success: Trust Reduction Over Throughput
For years, the blockchain space has been obsessed with transaction throughput (TPS). The Trustless Manifesto proposes a fundamental shift in how we evaluate projects. Instead of asking “How fast is it?”, we should be asking, “How much trust does it remove from the system?”
True trustlessness, the document argues, is achieved when every action is fully verifiable using public data, and no single operator is essential for the system to function. It’s about building resilient, independent networks, not just faster ones.
To that end, the creators have invited developers and community members to endorse their vision. By connecting a wallet and signing a transaction, individuals can publicly pledge their commitment to prioritizing decentralization. Key figures in the Ethereum community are already signing on, signaling a growing movement to steer the ship back towards its original, decentralized course.
The Trustless Manifesto is more than just a document; it’s a line in the sand. It challenges the entire industry to look in the mirror and ask whether the pursuit of mainstream adoption is worth sacrificing the very principles that make this technology revolutionary.
