Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin: No Abandonment of EA, Just Naming Discrepancies

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote: he despises a trend where those who still believe in over 80% of the core tenets of effective altruism (EA) strategically cut ties and rebrand just to appear cool by mocking EA. He believes a more dignified approach is to acknowledge the intellectual origins while pointing out specific discrepancies, arguing that these discrepancies are the source of the problems seen by outsiders.

He then demonstrated: effective altruism is an important part of his intellectual growth, with caring for others, cosmopolitanism, and rigorous resource allocation still being crucial. What he opposes is the most self-destructive subset of this ideology, pointing to the long article "Galaxy brain resistance" from November 2025. In it, "galaxy brain resistance" is defined as how easily arguments can be used to defend pre-determined conclusions: an argument that proves everything proves nothing. He specifically names low-resistance models including determinism—jumping directly from "automation will eventually happen" to "we must accelerate"—and long-termism—where future populations can be written as trillions, thus any current cost can be discounted as a moral necessity. He writes that long-term thinking is indeed important; building roads, educating children, and not hard-forking blockchains rely on it; but once the long-term narrative detaches from verifiable current situations, the market becomes a low-interest narrative bubble, and politics becomes "a bridge to nowhere."

In the same week, he compared Mozi's concept of universal love and frugality to early effective altruism, especially in global health, rather than the AI apocalypse. After FTX and SBF, EA has become a label that can be mocked in Silicon Valley, with the safety and donation circles undergoing rebranding. He chose not to rebrand, writing that cutting ties is an undignified strategy. The Ethereum Foundation has contracted in recent years, selling less ETH, only maintaining anti-censorship and privacy, which aligns with his stance of "acknowledging origins and then listing objections": protocol neutrality, and individuals must clarify their principles.

Who is buying, who is selling: those buying are positions that can be questioned, while those selling are rebranding for social safety. The event was driven by a post of recognition of ancestry, with funds not directly moving, and reputations being repriced among donation brands, safety labs, and crypto public goods. The beneficiaries are those still using the original name for malaria and vaccine ledgers, while the pressured parties are institutions that rely on "we are not EA" to avoid associations with SBF. The 80% tenets remain, only the nameplate has changed.

The long article is his list of objections, not an official amendment from the EA association.

Source: Public Information