Vitalik Buterin, the mind behind the Ethereum blockchain, has performed a U-turn and now advocates for copyleft licensing in Web3 development.
In a candid blog post, Buterin walks readers through his journey from someone who championed giving code away freely to someone who now believes developers need to be a bit more demanding about what they get back.
Permissive licences are like lending your mate your car with no questions asked. Copyleft licences, meanwhile, are more like saying “sure, borrow my car, but if you modify it and sell copies, I want the blueprints.”
“Permissive licences freely share with everyone, copyleft licences freely share only with those who are also willing to freely share,” explains Buterin.
Buterin’s earlier philosophy made perfect sense for someone trying to build something world-changing. He wanted his code to spread like wildfire, and the easiest way to do that was to remove every possible barrier. Corporate lawyers get nervous about complicated licences, so why not just make it simple?
There was also something deeply personal about his approach. Buterin hates the whole concept of copyright and patents. He finds it absurd that two people sharing bits of code can somehow be committing a crime against someone they’ve never met. “Not paying is NOT the same as stealing,” he argued.
The world changed, and so did Buterin’s mind
Three things happened that completely flipped Buterin’s thinking, and they’re all connected to how the tech world has evolved since Ethereum’s early days.
First, big companies stopped being scared of open-source. Google, Microsoft, even Huawei are now pouring resources into open projects. When your biggest obstacle disappears, your strategy needs to change.
Second, the blockchain and Web3 industry got ruthless. The wide-eyed idealism of the early days has given way to serious money and competition. People aren’t sharing code out of the goodness of their hearts anymore. In this environment, hoping for voluntary collaboration feels naive.
Third, Buterin encountered some economic thinking that shook his libertarian foundations and further nudged him towards copyleft licensing. Researchers like Glen Weyl convinced him that in a world where bigger players get exponentially stronger, pure property rights actually lead to dystopian outcomes.
“Economies of scale means that if I have 2x the resources that you do, I will be able to make more than 2x the progress. Hence, next year, I will have eg. 2.02x the resources that you do,” Buterin explains.
Compound that over time and you get a world where one player eventually controls everything.
Historically, this nightmare scenario was kept in check by messy human realities. People jumped between companies, taking their knowledge with them. Industrial espionage was rampant. Reverse engineering was inevitable. Progress leaked everywhere.
But those natural checks and balances are breaking down. Technology moves faster than ever. Political stability is cracking. Perhaps most crucially, we’ve figured out how to create products that people can use but can’t tinker with.
Politicians aren’t exactly known for their tech savviness, but even they’re starting to notice the problem. The EU’s USB-C standardisation isn’t just about convenience—it’s about preventing Apple from building a completely closed ecosystem.
The US ban on non-compete agreements particularly excited Buterin, as it forces companies to share “tacit knowledge” when employees move jobs.
However, the problem with government solutions is that they’re inevitably biased towards local interests. It’s better than nothing, but it’s not elegant.
Copyleft licensing: the elegant solution for Web3 development
This is where copyleft licensing is appealing. Instead of heavy-handed government regulation, you get a voluntary system that achieves the same goals. Want to use this code? Great, but if you improve it, you have to share those improvements back.
It’s like creating a massive commons where everyone can play, but only if they agree to contribute. No central authority needed. Just a simple rule: take freely, give freely.
Buterin admits this isn’t always the right answer. Sometimes you really do want maximum adoption. But, increasingly, he believes those situations are the exception rather than the rule.
For anyone building in the Web3 space, Buterin’s shift should be a wake-up call. The early days of blockchain technology were built on radical openness and collaboration. But as the money has poured in, that collaborative spirit has been tested. Companies are increasingly keeping their innovations locked away.
Copyleft licensing could be the answer. Instead of hoping that companies will voluntarily share their improvements to core blockchain technology, copyleft makes it a requirement. You want to build on this foundation? Fine, but your improvements become part of the commons too.
This isn’t just about technical licensing preferences. It’s about the fundamental question of whether blockchain technology will fulfil its promise of decentralisation or simply recreate the same power structures that dominate traditional industries.
Buterin’s evolution from permissive idealist to strategic copyleft advocate reflects the broader development and maturation of the Web3 space. In a world where technological power increasingly equals political power, these decisions matter more than ever.
(Image credit: John Phillips/Getty Images for TechCrunch under CC BY 2.0 license)
See also: Geany: Popular lightweight open-source IDE releases v2.1
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