Why Vitalik Says Ethereum Must Build “Sanctuary Tech” Now

Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum must shift focus to “sanctuary tech” to protect freedom, privacy, and digital life in a changing world.

Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin has a message for the crypto community. He wants Ethereum to stop chasing financial dominance and start building what he calls “sanctuary technologies.”

In a post, Buterin laid out his concerns about the state of the world. He also questioned Ethereum’s role in addressing those concerns.

His argument is simple but pointed: Ethereum has the tools, but it is not using them well enough.

Vitalik Buterin Raises Concerns About Ethereum’s Real-World Impact

Buterin opened his post by naming two things weighing on the minds of many people he talks to. The first is the direction the world is heading.

He pointed to growing government and corporate surveillance, rising AI influence, and what he described as social media turning into “a memetic warzone.”

The second concern is closer to home for the Ethereum community.

Buterin said Ethereum has played a “very limited role” in solving these problems. He noted that through years of online conflict and international power struggles, the network has done little to improve everyday lives.

He compared Ethereum’s absence to what he sees as the real liberating technologies of today. He cited Starlink, locally-run open-source AI models, Signal, and Community Notes as examples of tools that actually help people.

Buterin did not hold back. He said it is easy to bond over shared worries, but “the hard thing is actually shining a light forward.” For him, Ethereum has not done enough of that.

Over the past year, many people I talk to have expressed worry about two topics:

• Various aspects of the way the world is going: government control and surveillance, wars, corporate power and surveillance, tech enshittification / corposlop, social media becoming a memetic…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) March 3, 2026

What “Sanctuary Tech” Means and Why Buterin Is Pushing It

Buterin used the phrase “sanctuary technologies” to describe a specific kind of tool.

These are free, open-source technologies that let people live, communicate, manage finances, and collaborate. The key feature is that they must be robust against outside pressure.

He was clear that the goal is not to remake the world in Ethereum’s image. He wrote that the aim is “de-totalization.” That means reducing the grip that any single winner, whether a government or corporation, can have over people.

It also means reducing the losses of those on the losing side of power struggles. In short, Buterin wants Ethereum to help create “digital islands of stability” in an unstable era.

He also explained Ethereum’s specific role in this vision. Unlike simple communication tools, Ethereum creates “digital space.” It allows for the creation of unique objects that represent social arrangements over time.

Money is the obvious example. Multi-signature wallets that persist beyond individual users are another. Governance structures are a third. Buterin sees these as building blocks for something much larger than finance alone.

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Buterin Calls for a Full-Stack Ecosystem Beyond Finance

Buterin pushed back against the idea that Ethereum should “laser-focus” on finance and stop dreaming bigger.

He said that path is “ultimately hollow.” A perfectly free financial system would fix some things, he admitted, but it would leave most of the deeper problems untouched.

Instead, he called on the Ethereum community to build a full-stack ecosystem. That means expanding upward to wallets and applications, including AI as an interface layer. It also means going downward to operating systems, hardware, and even physical security.

He wants Ethereum to stop trying to be like Apple or Google. He said the network should build “shared digital space with no owner” that serves people whom centralized platforms will not.

Buterin also noted that Ethereum has allies outside the crypto world. He encouraged the community to work with those allies and move forward with an open mind.

His closing point was direct: tech without users is worthless. The goal should be to find users who genuinely need sanctuary tech and build precisely for them.