ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin believes that integrating decentralization and cooperation is one of the most pressing societal challenges in the ethereum ecosystem. There is a diverse group of researchers and developers who are “building their own visions of what ethereum can be,” Buterin wrote in his eth.limo/general/2024/09/28/alignment.html”>blog on Saturday. He noted:
“The main challenge is making sure that all of these projects, collectively, build something that feels like an ethereum ecosystem, and not 138 incompatible fiefdoms.”
The concept of “ethereum Alignment” has been proposed as a solution. However, the concept has been “ill-defined” until now. To solve the problem, Buterin proposes that “the concept of alignment should be made more readabledecomposed into specific properties, which can be represented by specific metrics.”
ethereum Alignment Metrics
Buterin believes that each project will have its own list of properties and metrics that will “inevitably change over time.” However, it established some basic criteria to track whether applications are aligned with ethereum's long-term vision and goals.
1. Open source:
Buterin says that using open source software for ethereum applications has two main benefits. First, keeping code open and inspectable ensures security. Second, it reduces the risk of property lock-in and allows third-party enhancements without permission.
Buterin is practical and understands that the entire application does not need to be open source. However, he believes that “the basic infrastructure components that the ecosystem depends on should be.” He called the definitions of free software FSF and open source OSI the “gold standard.”
2. Open standards:
According to Buterin, applications should strive to achieve interoperability with the ethereum ecosystem and rely on open standards, both those that exist and those yet to be implemented. Common ethereum standards include ERC-20 and ERC-1271. Buterin suggests writing a new ERC when introducing a feature that existing standards cannot handle.
3. Decentralization and security:
The goal is to avoid trust points and minimize censorship loopholes and dependence on centralized infrastructure. Buterin suggests the metrics of abandonment testing and insider attack testing.
In the retirement test, applications must determine whether they will be able to continue functioning if the computer and servers disappear tomorrow. In insider attack testing, the project needs to evaluate the damage it could cause if the team itself attacks the system.
4. Positive sum
According to Buterin, projects must positively contribute and benefit the entire ethereum community, including eth holders and users, as well as the world at large. For the first part, projects can use eth as a token and contribute to its network effect, open source technology, or donate a percentage of their tokens or revenue to public goods in the ethereum ecosystem.
Buterin advises projects to ask themselves the following:
“ethereum is here to make the world a freer and more open place, enable new forms of ownership and collaboration, and contribute positively to the important challenges facing humanity. Does your project do this?
Buterin says his “ideal goal” is to see more entities like L2beat, a layer 2 analytics platform, emerge to track how closely ethereum projects follow the ethereum Alignment criteria. He warns, however, that the ethereum Foundation (EF) needs to distance itself from the process to maintain decentralization.
According to Buterin, having specific criteria can help the Environmental Fund and others understand which projects they want to support and use. He adds:
“If we do more to make the different aspects of alignment legible, without centralizing them in a single “observer”, we can make the concept much more effective, fair and inclusive in the way the ethereum ecosystem strives to be.”
