Vitalik Buterin advocates for open source as Europe’s tech advantage

The Ethereum co-founder argues that embracing open-source principles is the continent's strongest path to competing in AI and technology.

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Add us on Google by Editorial Team May. 28, 2026

Vitalik Buterin has a message for Europe: stop trying to out-Silicon Valley Silicon Valley. Instead, lean into what those guys won’t do. Go open source.

The Ethereum co-founder stated on May 28 that open source represents Europe’s best path to compete in tech and AI.

The case for building in the open

North America’s tech giants have largely opted for the walled-garden approach. Massive proprietary models, closed training data, and vertically integrated ecosystems that keep users locked in and competitors locked out.

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Buterin’s advocacy extends beyond the philosophical. He has written extensively about what he calls “full-stack openness and verifiability,” a framework dating back to at least September 2025 that argues every layer of a technology stack should be auditable and transparent.

Sanctuary technologies and running your own AI

Buterin has also introduced a concept he calls “sanctuary technologies,” which are open-source ecosystems specifically designed to resist external pressures, facilitate local AI inference, and enhance privacy.

Buterin reportedly runs local open-source AI models on his own hardware, specifically Qwen3.5:35B, to avoid the privacy risks that come with routing queries through cloud providers.

Notably absent from Buterin’s commentary were references to any specific companies, protocols, or tokens. No shilling, no product placements. This was a cultural and philosophical argument, not a business pitch.

Why Europe, and why now

Europe has spent the better part of a decade building regulatory frameworks around technology, from GDPR to the AI Act. If Europe’s regulatory instinct is toward transparency, accountability, and user rights, then open-source technology is the natural infrastructure to support those values. Proprietary systems require you to trust the company. Open-source systems let you verify the code yourself.

What this means for investors

For investors watching the crypto and tech landscape, Buterin’s advocacy signals a potential shift in where capital flows within Europe’s technology sector. Blockchain protocols are, at their core, open-source infrastructure.

Investors should watch for concrete policy moves that translate open-source rhetoric into funded mandates, procurement preferences, or grant programs.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.