Vitalik Buterin presented metrics to measure Ethereum alignment
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin proposed putting together a set of metrics to measure how “aligned” projects are with Ethereum's values.
In his latest blog post on September 28, Buterin said that achieving “Ethereum alignment” is one of the most important social problems in the Ethereum ecosystem.
But he admits it's a daunting task with so many customer groups, application developers, researchers and local communities each trying to contribute to Ethereum in unique ways.
The main challenge is making sure all these projects work together to build something that looks like a single Ethereum ecosystem, not 138 incompatible fiefdoms.
According to Buterin, there are already several “starting points”, such as how a project is open.
Open source means that code can be audited for security, but it also reduces the risk of being locked into ownership and allows third parties to make improvements, he explained.
Then, Buterin points out how interoperable a project is, and apps and wallets can be rated with which ERCs are compatible.
Meanwhile, decentralization and security can be measured by “pedestrian” and “insider attack” tests.
“If your team and servers were down tomorrow, would your application still be usable?”
“If your team tries to attack the system itself, how broken it is and how much damage can be done,” he explained.
A project can be judged by how positive it is for the Ethereum community or humanity – for example, improving financial inclusion and enabling new crowdfunding methods, he continued.
Source: Suhail Kakar
Buterin explained how important it is for Ethereum to remain neutral.
“If alignment means making the right friends, then ‘alignment' as a concept has failed.
In July, Ethereum community member Ryan Berkmans told Cointelegraph how important it is for Ethereum developers to limit trading — as it can create an environment where winners and losers emerge.
“While it's certainly good for growth, it turns your chain and community into a quagmire of politically charged partnerships, and this prevents serious growth down the line where corporations and governments begin to rely on onchain for the most important and massive tasks.”
Related: Ethereum blob count is ‘comfortably close to ceiling' – Vitalik Buterin
Buterin himself is a highly influential voice in the Ethereum ecosystem. In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson said that Ethereum can rely heavily on Buterin's direction.
“Everyone looks to him for the roadmap. Everyone looks to him for inspiration, and he's the only one with enough power to bring people together,” Hoskinson told Cointelegraph.
“Now if you take him out of the equation, what will the next hard fork look like, and how quickly can you get there?”
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