Vitalik: Crypto projects should prioritize "decentralized models" to avoid excessive concentration of power and related risks

PANews, December 31 – Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published an article titled "Balance of Power," exploring the topics of power and checks and balances. Vitalik pointed out that many crypto projects, during their development, often focus solely on the "business model"—that is, how to continuously acquire resources to support team operations—while neglecting the equally crucial "decentralization model": how to avoid excessive concentration of power within the project itself and the potential systemic risks that may arise as a result. He believes that in some scenarios, decentralization is naturally easier to achieve. For example, in systems like the English language, or open protocols such as TCP, IP, and HTTP, due to the lack of obvious centralized control points, dominance is not easily monopolized by a single entity. However, in other use cases, decentralization does not occur automatically but requires conscious institutional and architectural design by project teams.

Vitalik emphasized that how to retain the flexibility and efficiency brought by centralization without suffering from the drawbacks of power concentration will be an important challenge that the crypto industry must face for a considerable period in the future. He called on project teams to proactively consider their own power structures and to treat the "decentralization model" as an equally important design goal alongside the business model.