Buterin challenges Thiel on cypherpunk values
Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin publicly pushed back on Peter Thiel’s worldview, writing on X that Thiel is “not a cypherpunk.” He linked to Thiel’s 2007 essay on Straussian politics and intelligence power, contrasting it with the privacy‑first ideals that shaped Bitcoin and, later, Ethereum. The post quickly spilled into a governance debate inside the ETH community.
Buterin’s target was Thiel’s framing of intelligence and secrecy as pillars of a stable order. In the essay he shared, Thiel argues for a Pax Americana coordinated by surveillance systems like Echelon. For cypherpunks, the instinct runs the other way: strong encryption, open networks and minimising trust in central authorities. That tension – secrecy versus verifiability – has hovered over crypto since its start.
Community replies broadened the thread. One user warned that powerful investors could steer Ethereum and urged the network to “become more like Bitcoin,” i.e., to stop feature changes once fundamentals are in place.
Buterin answered that he supports gradual ossification: after short‑term scaling and clean-up, major upgrades should slow and face a higher bar. The path he outlined isn’t shutting down changes – it’s widening who researches and proposes changes while being much more cautious about what actually enters the base layer.
In plain terms, ossification means freezing the protocol’s core components so users and developers can plan on stable rules. Ethereum isn’t there yet, Buterin said, pointing to remaining work on rollup‑centric scaling and “lean Ethereum” that pares back technical debt. The goal: preserve decentralisation and security while avoiding a system where a small circle can push through sweeping edits.
Thiel’s record adds context. He has backed companies that work closely with government agencies and, at times, voiced skepticism toward majoritarian democracy – positions many in the crypto view as at odds with cypherpunk privacy. Others counter that his views have evolved and note his engagement with pro‑sovereignty, technology‑friendly arguments. Either way, Buterin’s post sets a bright line around the values he wants Ethereum associated with.
