What is the “walkaway test?”
Vitalik Buterin’s “walkaway test” is a way to assess Ethereum’s long-term credibility. The network is intended to remain secure and functional even if its core developers were to stop actively upgrading it.
In a recent analogy, Buterin suggested that a protocol should resemble a tool you own, such as a hammer, rather than a service that gradually degrades if the “vendor” loses interest or becomes constrained by external pressures.
The end state he points to is an Ethereum that could “ossify if we want…

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