Vitalik Buterin: Build 'sanctuary technologies' — don't try to imitate Apple or Google. In response to concerns about global surveillance, wars, corporate power, tech enshittification, and Ethereum's limited role beyond finance, Buterin acknowledged that Ethereum "cannot fix the world" and is the "wrong-shaped tool" for that. Instead, he proposed reframing Ethereum as part of an ecosystem building "sanctuary technologies": free open-source tools that create resilient, ownerless digital spaces where people can live, work, communicate, manage risk, build wealth, and collaborate — protected from external pressures. The goal is de-totalization and "digital islands of stability," not remaking the world in Ethereum's image. He explicitly said: "Do not try to be Apple or Google, seeing crypto as a tech sector that enables efficiency or shininess."