The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has released a comprehensive new document outlining its philosophy, priorities and long-term role in running the world’s second-largest blockchain network.
The 38-page “EF Mandate”, published Friday, regulates the blockchain, whose ether token (ETH) is only beaten by bitcoin. in market capitalization, as a technology designed to protect individual freedom in an increasingly centralized digital world and defines the principles that the non-profit organization believes should guide its development.
The document comes at a time of transition for the organization, following recent changes to Ethereum’s technical roadmap and the resignation earlier this year of one of the foundation’s co-executive directors.
“The Ethereum Foundation is the original steward of the Ethereum Project,” the document states. “The Foundation is not the parent, owner, or ruler of Ethereum. We are not “the system” itself.”
At the center of the mandate is the concept of self-sovereignty, which the foundation describes as the primary goal of Ethereum.
“The first objective is to ensure that Ethereum becomes and remains a decentralized and resilient tool of self-sovereignty,” the manifesto states. “Our first fundamental principle is that a user has the final say over their identity, assets, actions and agents.”
To preserve this goal, the foundation says four properties must remain central to Ethereum’s development: censorship resistance, open source and free (as in freedom), privacy and security, collectively known as CROPS.
“We believe that these properties – CROPS – must remain, as an indivisible whole, the sine qua non of all Ethereum development priorities, which cannot be displaced,” the mandate states.
The foundation also said it would measure its own long-term success by how wasteful it is. For now, it will focus on work that no other player in the ecosystem is likely to undertake, including researching long-term protocols, work on public asset security, and coordination between development teams.
Once the broader ecosystem is able to support these functions, it plans to step back.
“Our goal is to reduce the relative influence of the Foundation over time,” the team wrote. “Rather, subtraction is a process to ensure Ethereum matures: a growth trajectory with decentralization, robust enough to outlast and outlive us.”
More broadly, the document situates blockchain within an ecosystem of open technologies supporting free and decentralized systems. The EF describes Ethereum as part of an “infinite garden,” an expanding network of builders, communities, and institutions working to keep digital infrastructure open and resilient.
“The World Computer is a decentralized infrastructure for permissionless computation, communication, and association,” the mandate states.
The manifesto ends by reiterating the foundation’s long-term goal: to protect the promise of Ethereum as an open system for individuals and communities to coordinate without relying on centralized authorities.
“Our job is not to conquer markets, companies or states, nor to help them extract or capture them,” the document states. “We are here to liberate the individual and consolidate their freedom of association. »
Read more: Ethereum Foundation leadership shakeup: Tomasz Stańczak steps down as co-executive director
