Ethereum Foundation: "We are facilitators, not rulers...user sovereignty comes first"

The Ethereum Foundation on the 13th (local time) released a document titled the “EF Mandate,” codifying the foundation’s role and the core principles of the Ethereum ecosystem.

Through the declaration, the foundation defined Ethereum’s ultimate raison d’être as protecting “user self-sovereignty”—meaning users should be able to participate in the digital world without relinquishing final authority over their assets, identity and choices.

To uphold this, the foundation set out four core principles it says must be safeguarded under the banner of “CROPS”: censorship resistance, open source, privacy and security. The foundation said “these conditions are absolute fundamentals that can never be compromised for convenience,” adding that “resistance to value extraction and a seamless user experience are also essential requirements.”

In particular, the foundation drew a clear line around its position and authority within the Ethereum ecosystem. The board said, “We are not Ethereum’s parent, ruler, or final decision-maker,” stressing that “our role is simply to help Ethereum keep its early promises.”

It added, “The Ethereum ecosystem is like a garden tended by a diverse set of participants,” and said it “hopes that the ecosystem’s principles will continue to be sustained organically even if the foundation disappears in the future.”