Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has presented an updated vision for how blockchain technology can intersect with artificial intelligence, emphasizing that Ethereum’s role lies in shaping trust, governance, and economic coordination in an AI-driven world. His insights were shared in a detailed post on X on Monday and revisit ideas he first published two years ago.
Buterin cautioned against framing progress in AI as a race to artificial general intelligence.
“To me, Ethereum, and my own view of how our civilization should do AGI, are precisely about choosing a positive direction rather than embracing undifferentiated acceleration of the arrow,” he wrote.
He said that the intersection of crypto and AI requires deliberate choices rather than pursuing superintelligence for its own sake.
Building private and trustless AI interactions
A key focus in Buterin’s framework involves tools that enable private and trustless interactions with AI systems. He proposed local large language model (LLM) tools, cryptographic payment mechanisms for API calls, and client-side verification of cryptographic proofs. These tools aim to reduce reliance on centralized providers and protect user data.
“Basically, take the vision that cypherpunk radicals have always dreamed of (don't trust; verify everything), that has been nonviable in reality because humans are never actually going to verify all the code ourselves. Now, we can finally make that vision happen, with LLMs doing the hard part,” Buterin wrote.
This approach addresses growing concerns over AI data privacy. Recent reports have highlighted that while AI chatbots like ChatGPT can provide legal or financial guidance, chat logs could be used against users in court. Buterin’s proposals aim to allow users to interact with AI without exposing their personal identities or sensitive information.
Ethereum as an economic layer for AI
Buterin also described Ethereum’s potential role as a decentralized economic layer for AI activity. He suggested mechanisms that allow AI agents to transact with one another, post security deposits, and establish reputational histories. Such arrangements could support more decentralized AI architectures, rather than systems controlled entirely by a single organization.
“Economies not for the sake of economies, but to enable more decentralized authority,” he said.
This economic framework could empower AI to act as an intermediary, verifying transactions, interacting with decentralized apps, and auditing smart contracts on behalf of users.
Enhancing governance and markets
Another pillar of Buterin’s vision involves improving governance and market efficiency. He noted that prediction markets, decentralized governance systems, quadratic voting, and combinatorial auctions have struggled in practice due to human attention limits. AI tools could scale human judgment and make these ideas practical.
“LLMs remove that limitation, and massively scale human judgement. Hence, we can revisit all of those ideas,” he said.
By integrating AI and Ethereum, Buterin argued, it becomes possible to unlock more effective decentralized coordination while maintaining user empowerment.
Short-term and long-term goals
Buterin emphasized that much of his vision focuses on near-term, practical applications, even as long-term possibilities include more radical scenarios, such as human-AI integration. In the shorter term, Ethereum can serve as part of a broader stack enabling privacy, decentralization, and human agency in an increasingly AI-saturated world.
The post reflects Buterin’s broader philosophy of defensive acceleration, or d/acc, strengthening decentralized cooperation and societal resilience while preventing concentration of power. He accompanied his vision with a simple chart mapping Ethereum’s AI ambitions across axes of infrastructure versus impact and survival versus flourishing, underscoring that the initiative spans both defensive and transformative use cases.
“There’s a lot to build,” Buterin concluded.
Oleksii Shumak
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