Vitalik Buterin Warns of Decentralization Challenges for Ethereum's Future

According to PANews, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin issued a warning at the EthCC conference in France, highlighting potential survival challenges for Ethereum if decentralization remains merely a slogan. He outlined three core tests to ensure true decentralization: the exit test, which assesses the security of user assets if project teams disappear; the internal attack test, evaluating the system's resilience against internal misconduct; and the trusted computing base test, which examines the amount of code required to protect user assets. Buterin pointed out that many current Layer 2 networks and DeFi projects rely on modifiable backdoors or centralized front ends, with privacy solutions often exposing user transaction histories due to third-party logins. He stressed the importance of making privacy a default feature and simplifying the code's trust base. As Ethereum approaches its tenth anniversary on the mainnet, Buterin warned that without achieving genuine decentralization, Ethereum risks following the path of other technologies that have faded away.