Web3 was built on a revolutionary promise: a decentralized internet owned by its users, free from the control of tech giants. Yet, a stroll through the current landscape of decentralized applications (dApps) reveals a curious paradox—many of them ask you to “Sign in with Google.” This reliance on centralized gatekeepers has not gone unnoticed, and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has issued a stark warning to the community.
During the Devconnect 2023 conference in Istanbul, Buterin didn’t mince words about this growing trend. His critique cuts to the heart of an identity crisis within the crypto space: Are we building a truly new internet, or just putting a decentralized sticker on the old, centralized model?
In an interview, Buterin expressed his frustration with a simple but powerful statement: “I hate apps that require a Google login but claim to be crypto.”
This isn’t just a minor technical complaint; it’s a fundamental ideological objection. For Buterin and other crypto pioneers, decentralization is not a marketing buzzword—it’s the entire point. The goal is to create systems that are open, censorship-resistant, and empower individuals by giving them full control over their data and digital identity.
In his influential blog post, “Make Ethereum Cypherpunk Again,” Buterin elaborated on this concern. He argued that many so-called Web3 platforms are merely decentralized in name, as they lean heavily on centralized infrastructure like Google’s authentication services or traditional cloud servers. This, he states, “goes against the spirit of cryptocurrencies.” Relying on a central point of failure reintroduces the very risks—like censorship, de-platforming, and data harvesting—that blockchain technology was designed to eliminate.
If using a Google login is so antithetical to the Web3 ethos, why is it so common? The answer lies in a classic trade-off between ideological purity and user-friendly design.
However, Buterin argues that these shortcuts come at a steep price. They perpetuate the dependency on the very Web2 giants that Web3 aims to disrupt. The original vision for Web3, as articulated by figures like Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, was a fully decentralized tech stack where users possess self-sovereign identity and have ultimate control over their digital lives. Opting for a centralized login is a direct compromise of that vision.
Buterin’s critique of Google logins is a symptom of a larger, more systemic issue he sees developing within the ecosystem: a gradual drift away from its core values, driven by economic and cultural forces.
One of the primary drivers of this cultural shift, according to Buterin, is high transaction fees on the blockchain. He wrote, “When the cost of writing to the chain was $0.001 or even $0.1, you could imagine all sorts of applications using blockchain in diverse, even non-financial, ways.”
But as network congestion drove fees up to several dollars per transaction, the landscape changed. Only applications involving high-value financial transactions remained viable. This naturally attracted a user base dominated by speculators rather than builders, idealists, or everyday users. As a result, the ecosystem’s culture began to prioritize immediate financial returns over long-term goals like privacy, social innovation, and censorship resistance.
This shift has also created a growing rift between the crypto world and other decentralization movements, such as the free software and digital activism communities. Buterin lamented that many in these circles now view crypto not as an ally in the fight for a free internet, but as a “distraction.” This ideological isolation weakens the transformative potential of Web3 and hinders collaboration on shared goals.
Far from being a message of despair, Buterin’s criticism is a powerful call to action. He urges the Ethereum and wider Web3 communities to reflect on their direction and actively work to recover the principles that sparked the movement.
This involves:
Vitalik Buterin’s criticism of Web3 apps that require Google login serves as a crucial reminder of what’s at stake. The seemingly small choice of a login method is symbolic of a much larger battle for the soul of the internet. It forces us to ask a difficult question: are we willing to trade the core promise of digital sovereignty for the simple convenience of a familiar button?
As the Web3 space continues to evolve, the community faces a choice. It can either take the easy path and risk becoming a slightly more complicated version of Web2, or it can embrace the challenge of building a truly decentralized, user-centric future. Buterin has made it clear which path he believes is the right one.
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