Crypto needs financial instruments that add wealth, not reckless bets.
Crypto journalist
Anas Hasan
Crypto journalist
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Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has called for crypto developers to refocus on building tools that emphasize individual sovereignty rather than encouraging withdrawal and reckless financial behavior.
In a Farcaster post in response to Monad KOL Tom Kruise, Buterin distinguished between the “open web” and the “sovereign web,” crediting senior Bitcoin experts for understanding this distinction years ahead of the broader industry.
Buterin rightly argues that Bitcoin proponents oppose ICOs, alternative tokens, and arbitrary financial applications in order to defend what he calls “corposlop,” a term that describes platforms optimized for corporate profit at the expense of users.
The industry is urged to build privacy-preserving applications, wealth-building tools without risk-taking, and AI systems that enhance rather than replace human productivity.
Buterin's evolution of sovereignty in the early 2000s, which focused on eliminating state violence, has led to the broader challenge of resisting corporate fraud.
He explained the need to protect digital privacy through cryptography, protecting against what he called the “war of corporate minds” designed to extract modern sovereignty's attention and dollars.
Ethereum's founder emphasized that sovereignty means pursuing projects based on true beliefs rather than “meta” pursuits of homogenous forces that undermine individuality and purpose.
It calls for domestic first apps that protect the privacy of crypto apps that reduce data disclosure to third parties and help users grow wealth without loans for 50x leverage, sports betting or everyday purchases like burritos.
Buterin extends his critique to AI development, advocating for more open and privacy-friendly tools that combine human and machine capabilities rather than encouraging passive reliance on automation.
He called on Daoists to support organizations that pursue specific goals rather than being captive to the same influential groups, while maintaining privacy and non-proprietary voting help preserve freedom.
The CorpoSlop problem threatens the very soul of Crypto.
Buterin describes the power of corporate optimization as a toxic combination of flamboyant branding that creates a sense of respectability and behavior that undermines that respectability in pursuit of higher profits.
He singled out social media platforms as prime examples, criticizing their dopamine-boosting algorithms that prioritize short-term engagement over long-term value and fulfillment.
Criticism has ranged from careless management to mass data collection practices or direct selling to third parties.
“Soulless trendsetting homophobia is evil and lame,” Buterin told Corpozloop, disempowering consumers by including products that seem to serve them.
Although he acknowledged the company's emphasis on privacy and long-term vision, he singled out walled gardens like Apple's ecosystem to prevent cross-platform connectivity.
“I have many complaints about Apple, but from their monopolistic practices, they really have many non-corporative features,” wrote Buterin, praising their resistance to trend-following and urging them to stop monopolistic behavior and embrace open source strategies.
Building towards true digital freedom
Buterin called for developers and investors to inject energy into social media platforms, appealing to long-term goals rather than short-term impulses to give users control over content.
“Be sovereign. Reject the corporal and believe in something,” he said, framing the challenge as both technical and philosophical.
The Sovereignty post follows recent writings by Buterin, who argued that Ethereum should prioritize bandwidth optimization over latency reduction due to physical and decentralized constraints.
That challenge comes as Ethereum has made technical breakthroughs in solving the blockchain trilemma through zero-knowledge EVMs and PeerDAS technology, and has seen a 110% increase in new addresses since the December Fusaka update.
Buterin also recently defended Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, who faces up to five years in prison after prosecutors framed software development as a felony.
Storm, the co-founder of the privacy protocol, renewed calls for public support this week, highlighting the role of protecting crypto fundamentals against regulatory pressure with Buterin's intervention.
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