Vitalik Backs Anonymous Voting for Ethereum — Can It Stop Governance Attacks?

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a two-layer governance framework that relies on anonymous voting to combat collusion and capture attacks, marking a dramatic reversal from his 2024 stance against anonymity in crypto.

The system separates accountability mechanisms from preference-setting by using prediction markets that feed into an anonymous voter consensus, with MACI technology to reduce coordination risks.

The proposal addresses a fundamental weakness in token-based governance systems where wealthy participants can accumulate 51% control.

Buterin’s shift comes as multiple decentralized social platforms struggle with governance challenges, including Farcaster’s recent decision to return $180 million to investors after failing to achieve sustainable growth.

Two-Layer Design Separates Execution from Preference-Setting

Buterin outlined his vision in a detailed post explaining that future onchain mechanism design would follow one pattern: “something that looks like a prediction market” feeding into “something that looks like a capture-resistant, non-financialized preference-setting gadget.“

The accountability layer maximizes openness through market mechanisms that hold participants accountable for their decisions, while the preference layer prioritizes decentralization and intrinsic motivation.

The prediction market serves as a “decentralized executive” because “the most logical primitive for ‘accountability’ in a permissionless concept is exactly that,” Buterin wrote.

Alternatively, systems could use a replaceable centralized executive at the accountability layer while maintaining decentralized preference-setting.

The preference layer cannot rely on tokens because “token owners are not pluralistic, and anyone can buy in and get 51% of them,” Buterin explained.

Instead, votes should be anonymous and ideally use MACI (Minimum Anti-Collusion Infrastructure) technology to reduce collusion risks.

One commenter supported the framework, noting prediction markets “really do map well to a ‘decentralized executive’: in a permissionless system, skin in the game is about as close as you can get to credible accountability.”

However, another raised pointed questions about whether Buterin’s support for prediction markets has benefited Ethereum, noting “the top 3 prediction markets are not built on Ethereum, not even on L2 currently.“

Sharp Departure from 2024 Anti-Anonymity Position

The anonymous voting advocacy represents a complete reversal of Buterin’s August 2024 position, which called for the end of “anonymous society” in crypto.

He previously argued that decentralized systems risk reverting to centralized control without multidimensional identity frameworks, claiming anonymity fails to address collusion and governance attack challenges.

At that time, Vinay Gupta, a prominent blockchain technologist, sharply criticized that earlier stance as “a genuinely terrible idea,” arguing it would undermine crypto’s core value of self-sovereignty through faceted identity.

Gupta warned that introducing rich, intersectional identities would lead to “a society characterized by entitlements and exclusions” requiring greater surveillance and control.

The philosophical shift appears influenced by failed experiments in crypto-based social platforms.

BitClout raised $100 million from major venture firms in 2021, with creator coins allowing users to invest in celebrities and influencers, but faced accusations of misleading the public and operating as a potential pump-and-dump scheme in which coin values fluctuated purely on buying and selling activity rather than underlying business success.

Creator DAO Model Offers Alternative to Token Governance

Buterin proposed a creator coin system using non-token-based DAOs, inspired by Protocol Guild, in which members vote anonymously to admit new participants.

These DAOs would deliberately embrace opinionatedness rather than aiming for universal appeal, with handpicked initial membership maximizing alignment around specific content styles or regional focuses.

Token speculators would predict which creators these high-value DAOs accept, with successful admissions triggering coin burns funded by DAO proceeds.

“The ultimate decider of who rises and falls is not speculators, but high-value content creators,” Buterin explained, assuming “good creators are also good judges of quality.“

The proposal critiques existing creator coin platforms like Zora and BitClout, where top performers are “people who already have very high social status” rather than emerging talent.

Buterin contrasts this with Substack’s success through hands-on curation and revenue guarantees for selected creators.

Farcaster’s recent struggles show governance challenges in decentralized social platforms.

Merkle Manufactory is returning $180 million raised over five years to investors following Neynar’s acquisition, with co-founder Dan Romero acknowledging that the platform “needs a new approach and leadership to reach its full potential” after struggling to sustain growth as a social-first product despite roughly 250,000 monthly active users in December.