Dearest Buddies,
Immediately we’re publishing the EF Mandate, a doc that serves as half structure, half manifesto, and half information for the Ethereum Basis.
It’s written primarily for the EF itself: to be clear about what we’re right here to do, the ideas by which we make choices, and what we should each do and refuse to do if we’re to remain true to our mission.
However inside additionally it is the story of a journey, from supply to stars. It carries a message not solely to the Ethereum ecosystem, but in addition to the broader subject of know-how and to associates and allies within the wider world, together with these we’ve not but met, however might come to acknowledge in time.
Ethereum began as a query: what if digital life may very well be shared, but nonetheless belong to its customers?
What started as a proposed protocol turned a motion, after which a promise: that free and open programs can safe, enrich, and increase human freedom; that coordination cannot solely respect self sovereignty, however deepen it; and that belief could be sustained in code, in tradition, and in frequent function.
That promise is what introduced so many people right here.
Ethereum made it potential to think about a digital world by which folks shouldn’t have to give up the whole lot to take part. A world by which customers can maintain what’s theirs, act on their very own phrases, and coordinate with others with out handing away remaining authority over their belongings, identities, or selections. It created house for a distinct type of future to be inbuilt public.
Our Mandate to EF states what should be cherished to guard the final word motive for Ethereum’s existence: consumer self-sovereignty.
To be part of EF, our personal groups should keep in mind that Ethereum should, above all, stay censorship resistant, open supply, personal, and safe (CROPS). Its self-sovereign use should be extraction-resistant and expertise seamless. These are the situations that make Ethereum value utilizing, and subsequently value constructing, and price defending. They need to by no means be traded away for comfort: with out them we’ve nothing.
Solely on prime of this unshakeable basis can Ethereum’s development be unstoppable and its adoption common. Solely on prime of this may we win.
We had been Ethereum’s first steward. Now we’re certainly one of many. And once we are gone, we hope the ideas right here will proceed on with out us.
Ethereum was by no means meant to start and finish with the Ethereum Basis. Nor was it ever meant to be the entire story. Over time, we got here to see Ethereum as one vital a part of one thing broader: what we’ve typically referred to as the Infinite Backyard, a rising ecosystem of individuals, initiatives, communities, and establishments working to maintain programs open, personal, resilient, humane, and free.
The world that backyard should dwell in is altering shortly. An increasing number of of life now runs by way of programs folks can’t examine, can’t meaningfully go away, and more and more can’t dwell with out. Political battle is intensifying. AI mediated environments have gotten extra pervasive. Lots of the programs folks depend on have gotten much less accountable to the individuals who use them. In such a world, Ethereum’s unique promise issues much more.
Why now? As a result of it’s time. Ethereum is a know-how of the long run and the long run is now. As a result of we’ve discovered. As programs mature, tradition can’t stay solely implicit. Ultimately, what has been carried by way of habits, instincts, and casual understanding should additionally grow to be legible in textual content. Placing it into phrases is a mark of success. It means sufficient has been constructed, sufficient has been shared, and sufficient has grown past anyone group, that readability turns into a part of good stewardship.
The EF shouldn’t be Ethereum’s mother or father, ruler, or remaining authority. Our function is stewardship. To assist Ethereum hold its unique promise, and nothing else. The Mandate is our effort to state clearly what that requires of us.
That’s the reason our Mandate now lives on the World Pc, the place it’s free for anybody to learn, reinterpret, and remix, eternally. We publish a canonical model for our personal use, however it imposes no obligation on anybody else.
We provide it as a clarification of our function, a dedication to our ideas, and an open sign to fellow stewards inside Ethereum and much past it.
With deep gratitude, we thank pcaversaccio, Tim Clancy, Lefteris, mashbean and numerous others for his or her recommendation and suggestions.
We additionally thank Tomo Saito and Shiro for his or her inventive interpretation of the textual content.
With the best love on the earth, we stay, very really yours,
—
The Ethereum Basis Board
