The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has released a document outlining its mandate, which defines key goals and principles for its role within the blockchain ecosystem.
1/ The Mandate clearly states what must be protected: EF will, above all else, remain focused on an Ethereum that is censorship resistant, open source, private, and secure (CROPS), in the service of user self-sovereignty, resistant to extraction and with seamless UX.
— Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) March 13, 2026
These are…
According to the release, the foundation's mission consists of two main objectives:
- to ensure that Ethereum remains a decentralized and resilient infrastructure for financial and internet applications;
- to minimize its own influence on the ecosystem by supporting projects and developers without directly controlling network development.
EF sees itself not as a governing body of the network, but as a participant in the community, tasked with fostering the development of infrastructure and public goods within the ecosystem.
The document also emphasizes the principle of "minimal sufficient intervention." The foundation intends to support early-stage projects through grants, research, and other means. However, over time, these initiatives should become independent and evolve without EF's involvement.
Particular attention in the mandate is given to openness and neutrality. EF stated that it aims to avoid situations where the organization could become a point of centralization or a key decision-making coordinator within the network.
"Our ultimate goal is for Ethereum to pass the project exit test. Its protocol and core application layers must become sufficiently robust and trustless to continue functioning and evolving stably, even if the foundation and current developers were to disappear tomorrow," the document states.
Co-founder Vitalik Buterin noted that the new EF mandate largely formalizes the approach the organization has been following in recent months.
This is the new EF Mandate.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) March 13, 2026
For many of you, the contents should be no surprise, and a clarification along the lines that we have been going and thinking for the past few months. But the clarification is nevertheless worth making.
Ethereum is a unique object and has a unique… https://t.co/SMGCWnmUk5
He stated that for many community members, the document's content will not come as a surprise; however, clarifying these principles is important for greater clarity regarding the foundation's role in the ecosystem.
"Ethereum is a unique entity with its role in the world. It serves as a technological refuge that preserves sovereignty, facilitates cooperation without coercion, dominance, or manipulation, and provides an emergency exit, ensuring that no individual, organization, or ideology can achieve total victory in cyberspace," the developer emphasized.
Recall that in early March, Buterin called for a reevaluation of the approach to application development, experimenting with new DeFi models and AI integration, but without compromising core principles.