Vitalik Buterin Calls for a Shift to Decentralized Social Networks

• The co-founder of Ethereum announced plans to fully transition to decentralized social networks in 2026.
• Buterin criticized crypto-social projects for their speculative tokenization model.
• He called for competition to be developed through a common decentralized data layer and new communication formats.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that in 2026, he plans to return to using decentralized social networks exclusively. He made this statement while commenting on the discussion about the future of online communication and the formation of a healthier information environment.

According to Buterin, if society wants high-quality dialogue, it needs new tools for mass communication.

These are platforms that help identify arguments and verified information. According to the developer, they should also facilitate the search for common ground and work in the interests of users in the long term.

Buterin named competition, which is impossible without decentralization, as a key condition for such changes. In his opinion, a common layer of data, on the basis of which everyone can create their own clients and interfaces, is the foundation for sustainable social platforms and an alternative to centralized ecosystems.

He noted that he had already returned to decentralized platforms in early 2026.

He publishes and reads all his content through Firefly, a multi-client that combines X (formerly Twitter), Lens Protocol, Farcaster, and Bluesky. At the same time, Buterin pointed out the limitations of some platforms, including character limits.

Separately, the Ethereum co-founder criticized the development of crypto-social projects, which, in his opinion, have gone down the wrong path. Buterin emphasized that tokenization and the creation of speculative assets around individuals are not innovations in themselves.

Such models, he said, tend to reward existing social capital rather than content quality. Ultimately, this model leads to the devaluation of tokens.

He noted that there are successful examples of content monetization, but they are based on subscriptions and creator support, not price bubbles. Buterin believes that decentralized social networks should be developed by teams that are primarily focused on solving social problems.

In this context, he gave a positive assessment of the development of the Lens project under the leadership of the Aave team and announced his intention to publish more actively on this platform.