Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin presented a set of reforms that could be implemented in Russia once the war ends to overhaul its entire cryptocurrency system. The focus is on modernizing all its security systems in conjunction with Ukraine and Europe, as well as reducing the authoritarian concentration of power in the country.
Vitalik Buterin framed his approach as a two-stage strategy to address the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. First, he argued that the priority should be to materially weaken Russia’s military capabilities to facilitate a ceasefire. Only in a second phase should the empowerment of moderate domestic actors committed to decentralization, public welfare, and non-aggression be promoted. Thus, his proposal is not presented as an immediate diplomatic solution, but rather as a structural roadmap for an eventual post-conflict transition.
In this context, Buterin suggested that certain governance principles developed within the crypto ecosystem could be applied to the Russian political architecture in the future. He argued that mechanisms such as decentralized governance models, quadratic voting to reduce plutocratic influence, and large-scale digital deliberation platforms like pol.is could help disperse the capacity for coordination in repressive or aggressive actions, while preserving the state’s ability to promote public welfare.
His goal, he explained, would be to build a polis “maximum strong” in serving its citizens but “maximum uncoordinated” in undertaking external aggression.
Separating market and ethics: Buterin’s two-layer architecture
Beyond the political sphere, Buterin also proposed a concrete technical architecture. In a statement on May 26, 2025, he outlined a two-layer on-chain system designed to protect ethical decisions from purely economic pressures. On one hand, an “execution layer” structured like prediction markets, geared toward rewarding accurate and verifiable behaviors. On the other, a decentralized and pluralistic “value judgment layer,” isolated from direct token-based influence.
According to his approach, this separation would reduce incentives for financial corruption in fundamental social decisions and strengthen collective legitimacy. In other words, it would reconcile market efficiency with ethical deliberation, preventing economic power from completely capturing digital governance.
At the same time, Buterin recalled the humanitarian role that crypto has played during conflicts. He highlighted that pro-Ukrainian fundraisers managed to mobilize more than $212 million in crypto assets, and cited his own $5 million donation in ETH in April 2022 as an example of how decentralized payments can facilitate direct and rapid aid in emergency situations.
For the crypto sector in general, his reflections reinforce a recurring message: blockchain technology should not be limited to financial speculation, but rather geared toward structures with demonstrable social value. If these ideas were adopted—in whole or in part—they could shift the debate from technical innovation to the political architecture of digital governance.
