The ETA community recently began a discussion around Vitalik Buterin, suspending the conventional long text and instead writing a science fiction novel on decentralised governance. The co-founder, Joseph Lubin, made a public statement of support, stating that it did not mean Buterin was far from the Ether House, but might be a more effective means of communication.
Lubin's public support
Lubin stated on X that if it was thought that Buterin wrote novels that deviated from the development focus of the Ether residence, then the matter was misunderstood. In his view, fiction was not necessarily weaker than technical articles, but rather could convey complex ideas to a wider audience.
He described Buterin as one of the most important contributors to and “managers” of the ecology of the Pacific and described it as an efficient communicator. According to Lubin, this writing continues on several themes that have long been highlighted by the Taifung, including open sources, privacy, resistance to censorship and credible neutrality.
New discussion on governance and AI
Buterin had previously stated in May that he would suspend his regular long blog and try to use science fiction to discuss central governance. He completed the first two chapters and posted them on his personal website.
The report shows that the work is not a traditional research article, but rather that the issue of governance is embedded in fiction. Disclosures were made on secondary voting, AI support decision-making, and the governance constraints of DAO.
This explains why community responses are fragmented. In the past, Butterin ' s technical articles had often directly influenced public discussions in Taifung, so some users questioned the appropriateness of such writing arrangements at a stage when ETH prices were under pressure and the direction of the foundation was being questioned; it was also suggested that novel forms made it easier for the outside world to understand abstract concepts of governance.
The issue of privacy is rising again.
In addition to governance, privacy is a high-frequency keyword in this round of discussions. Community users mentioned that the first two chapters of the novel had touched on the subject of open sources and privacy and referred to its creation for a second discussion.
Privacy itself has been an ongoing issue in recent years. It has previously been reported that the development of a number of privacy tools was advanced by the developers of the Taifeng prior to the tenth anniversary of the network, and that Buterin had called on developers to focus on private currency, privacy, voting and private communications.
From Lubin's statement, he preferred to view the writing as part of a foreign narrative of the Taifung, rather than as a deviation from the technical route. At this stage, the novel does not change the technological road map of the Taifung, but it does bring Buterin ' s public role, the direction of the foundation and the way in which it communicates with the community again.