The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has released a comprehensive new document outlining its philosophy, priorities and long-term role in governing the world’s second-largest blockchain network.
The 38-page “EF Directive” published on Friday frames the blockchain, whose Ethereum (ETH) token is second only to Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization as a technology designed to protect individual freedoms in an increasingly centralized digital world and set out principles that the nonprofit says must guide its development.
The document comes during a period of transition for the organization, following recent changes to Ethereum’s technical roadmap and the resignation of one of the foundation’s co-executive directors earlier this year.
“The Ethereum Foundation is the original steward of the Ethereum project,” the document states. “The Foundation is not the parent, owner, or ruler of Ethereum. We are not the ‘system’ itself.”
Central to that mission is the concept of self-sovereignty, which the foundation describes as Ethereum’s core purpose.
“The overarching goal is to ensure that Ethereum becomes and remains a decentralized and resilient self-sovereign tool,” the manifesto states. “Our first fundamental principle is that users have the final say over their identity, assets, behavior, and agency.”
To maintain this goal, the foundation stated that Ethereum development must maintain a core of four attributes: censorship resistance, open source and free (as in freedom), privacy and security, collectively known as CROPS.
“We believe that these properties – the crops – must continue to be essential to all development priorities of Ethereum as an integral whole and cannot be replaced,” the authorization states.
The foundation also said it would measure its long-term success based on how unnecessary it is. For now, it will focus on work that is impossible for other ecosystem participants, including long-term protocol research, public product security work, and coordination between development teams.
It plans to exit once the broader ecosystem is able to take over these functions.
“Our goal is to reduce the foundation’s relative influence over time,” the team wrote. “Subtraction is really a process that ensures Ethereum matures: a decentralized growth trajectory that is strong enough to evolve and continue beyond us.”
More broadly, the document places blockchain within an open technology ecosystem that supports free and decentralized systems. EF describes Ethereum as part of the “Infinite Garden,” a growing network of builders, communities, and institutions working to keep digital infrastructure open and resilient.
“The World Computer is a decentralized infrastructure for permissionless computation, communication, and correlation,” the authorization states.
The manifesto concludes by reaffirming the Foundation’s long-term goals: to protect Ethereum’s commitment as an open system that enables individuals and communities to coordinate without relying on a central authority.
“Our job is not to capture markets, businesses or countries, nor to help them extract or capture,” the document states. “We are here to free individuals and consolidate their freedom of association.”
Read more: Ethereum Foundation leadership shake-up: Tomasz Stańczak no longer serves as co-executive director
