Vitalik: As Government and Corporate Control Expands, Ethereum Must Build 'Shielded Technology'

**March 4: Vitalik Calls for 'Sanctuary Tech' Ecosystem Beyond Ethereum Finance** Vitalik wrote in a post on March 4 that amid growing government and corporate oversight, Ethereum — despite prioritizing freedom and privacy — has failed to meaningfully enhance users’ real-world freedom and privacy. He called for building a "sanctuary tech" ecosystem: open-source tools that boost resilience against external pressures, stressing Ethereum shouldn’t be confined to finance. Vitalik noted: "Cryptocurrencies shouldn’t aim to be the next Apple or Google. Instead, we need to build our own 'sanctuary tech ecosystem' — a shared, ownerless digital space that does more than just enable open finance. We need to actively develop a full-stack ecosystem: expanding upward to wallets and app layers (including AI as an interface) and downward to operating systems, hardware, and even physical/biometric security layers."