Ethereum co-founder calls for building decentralized applications that don't rely on centralized infrastructure after an incident affecting 20% of websites on Cloudflare.
Vitalik Buterin suggests that Decentralized Applications could be the solution to large-scale internet infrastructure failures, following the severe outages experienced by Cloudflare and Amazon Web Services in 2024, which disrupted the operations of many cryptocurrency platforms. This statement marks a strong call from theEthereum co-founder for the realization of a truly decentralized vision for blockchain.
In his X post , Buterin emphasized that Ethereum needs to do more to become the “computer of the world,” serving as the central infrastructure for a freer and more open internet. According to him, this starts with DApps that operate without fraud, censorship, or third-party interference, and are capable of operating at large scale on the blockchain.
The Ethereum co-founder described a vision of applications where users wouldn't even realize Cloudflare was down, or even if the entire infrastructure were hacked and taken over. He emphasized that these applications need stability that transcends the ups and downs of companies, ideologies, and political parties, while protecting user privacy across all sectors, from finance and identity to governance and other civilized infrastructures.
Centralized infrastructure reveals serious weaknesses.
The Cloudflare outage in November caused approximately 20% of websites on the platform to go down, stemming from a software bug. According to the company's post-audit report, a "feature file" used by the bot management system to respond to cyberattacks grew beyond its normal size limit.
Many major cryptocurrency platforms such as Coinbase, Blockchain.com, BitMEX , and Ledger were taken offline due to this incident, along with another disruption involving Amazon Web Services in October. The chain of events raises serious questions about the reliability of the centralized internet infrastructure that the blockchain industry still relies on.
In a manifesto released on November 11, Buterin, along with Ethereum Foundation researchers Yoav Weiss and Marissa Posner, warned: “Decentralization is being eroded not by takeover, but by convenience. It is drifting, automatically and continuously, toward trust-based dependence.”
Earlier in December, Buterin also argued for the need to build a trustworthy, trustless on-chain Gas Price Futures Contract market, aiming to give users greater certainty about transaction costs on the blockchain. This proposal further demonstrates his vision of minimizing reliance on centralized elements within the Ethereum ecosystem.
