Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly retracted his position from about 10 years ago, indicating a significant shift in his mindset regarding blockchain autonomy.
In a recent X (Twitter) post, Buterin stated that he no longer agrees with his claim from 2017 that 'complete self-verification is the fantasy of a quirky person living in the mountains.'
Vitalik Buterin's Reasons for Reassessing the Premise of Ethereum Self-Verification
He explained that this statement reflects both the advancements in cryptography and the lessons learned from real network failures.
In 2017, Buterin discussed with blockchain theorist Ian Grigg whether blockchains should store their on-chain state. Grigg argued that blockchains could save transaction records without retaining user balances, smart contract code, or storage.
Buterin opposed this, warning that users must either reconstruct the entire chain history or fully trust third-party RPC providers. At that time, Buterin, who was an Ethereum executive and developer, stated that this approach is not practical for general users.
He stressed that Ethereum could be trusted to be much safer than relying on a single provider by strictly managing on-chain states and providing value verification through Merkle proofs.
The subsequent change is the advent of ZK-SNARKs. This cryptographic innovation allows users to verify the accuracy of the blockchain without having to replay every transaction.
Buterin likened this development to "discovering a drug that cures all diseases for $15," assessing it as an innovative technology that provides security benefits without cost burdens.
He argues that this innovation allows Ethereum to approach the previously unavoidable balance issue between scalability, verification, and decentralization in a new way.
'Mountain Man' option... Ethereum's decentralized future safe haven
Buterin also emphasized the importance of securing resilience in the real world.
"Sometimes P2P networks go down. Occasionally, latency can spike by 20 times. There are also instances where relied-upon services are terminated. Miners or stakers may centralize power, and intermediaries may censor applications," he wrote.
In such situations, users should be able to verify and utilize the chain directly without "requesting help from developers" to maintain autonomy even when assumptions break down.
This principle is the fundamental reason he advocates for what he calls the "Mountain Man" option. While complete self-verification does not need to be performed routinely, it serves as an important final contingency, a negotiating tool, and an ultimate safety net for Ethereum.
Just as BitTorrent pressured streaming platforms to offer better conditions to consumers, Mountain Man's cabin provides Ethereum users with power and safety mechanisms despite technical and political uncertainties.
Ultimately, Buterin's inventory is a technical and philosophical change. ZK-SNARKs have eliminated the limits of self-verification, and real-world experiences have shown that centralization risks, network failures, and censorship are realistic threats.
By maintaining the Mountain Man option, Ethereum can uphold the principles of long-term resilience and autonomy of the network.
Buterin's change of stance suggests that the assumptions that once guided the design are no longer fixed, indicating that robust contingency planning is essential for a decentralized future.
