Vitalik Buterin names three decentralized applications, reaffirming Ethereum's original mission and Web3 vision

January 16 News, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently made a series of statements on social media, once again shifting industry focus back to the core principle of “decentralization” that originally defined Ethereum. Against the backdrop of the crypto market still seeking long-term positioning and striving to move away from purely speculative labels, Vitalik Buterin used specific cases to elaborate on his latest thoughts regarding the future network form of Ethereum.

According to Vitalik Buterin, he recently highlighted three applications that he believes truly continue the original vision of Ethereum when it was born in 2014. These three applications are Status, Railway Wallet, and Fileverse, covering different scenarios such as communication, privacy finance, and decentralized office collaboration. He emphasized that these products are not just conceptual demonstrations but are already usable in daily life.

Vitalik Buterin recalled that around 2014, the experience of decentralized applications was still very rough, and compared to Web2 products, they were “hundreds of times less user-friendly.” By 2026, the situation has changed significantly. He mentioned that he has been frequently using Fileverse for document writing and multi-user collaboration, with an experience approaching that of traditional cloud office tools.

In terms of functionality, Status is an integrated encrypted communication self-custody wallet, focusing on censorship-resistant communication; Railway Wallet is dedicated to privacy-oriented DeFi operations; and Fileverse is seen as a decentralized alternative to Google Workspace, with the core advantage that data is fully controlled by users. Even if the platform itself ceases operation, users can still access and edit their files.

Vitalik Buterin specifically pointed out that the design of Fileverse embodies the “correct decentralization path,” meaning the application itself is not tied to a single company or server, and user data will not disappear due to changes in service providers. This concept stands in stark contrast to some highly closed, subscription-dependent consumer tech products that excessively collect user behavior data.

In his view, with the improvement of Ethereum network efficiency, the continuous reduction of costs, and the maturity of surrounding infrastructure, the technical conditions for building an “alternative internet” are already in place. Vitalik Buterin stated that the early vision of Web3 is gradually being realized, and decentralized networks are expected to usher in a true revival cycle in the coming years.