- He rejects proof-of-wealth anti‑Sybil measures, arguing they favor wealthy holders and exclude underbanked users from digital identity networks.
- Buterin advocates cost curve where N identities cost N², deterring mass ID creation by bad actors on blockchain.
Vitalik Buterin has outlined a new model for digital identity that spreads power across multiple providers. He calls this approach “pluralistic identity” and he argues that it can protect privacy while ensuring fair access.
He warns that zero-knowledge proof–wrapped IDs, though useful for hiding personal details, can become tools of control if one issuer dominates. Consequently, users may lose pseudonymity and face coercion from authorities demanding a single public identity.
“In the real world, pseudonymity generally requires having multiple accounts,” he said.
Buterin highlights World ID, which has verified over ten million people using biometric orbs. He notes that similar systems in Taiwan and the European Union also employ ZK proofs, yet each relies on a single operator.
He rejects proof-of-wealth checks as an anti‑Sybil tool, since they favor the wealthy and leave others out. Instead, he proposes a cost curve where N identities cost roughly N², making mass ID creation too expensive for bad actors.
Under his plan, explicit pluralism could use social-graph platforms like Circles, where trust flows through known connections. Implicit pluralism would mix credentials from governments, social networks and community groups, so no single source reaches near‑total market share.
He argues that error tolerance rises when many providers share the field. As a result, stateless or undocumented individuals gain more options to confirm their identity without handing power to one body.
Moreover, Buterin suggests combining one‑per‑person schemes with social‑graph networks to seed a global ID backbone. He believes such a hybrid could balance privacy, inclusion and resistance to misuse.
“If their market share gets too close to 100%, they shift the world… to a one-per-person model, which has worse properties,” he warned
Community reaction has been largely positive. On X, users praised the Circles model as a “live experiment in decentralized identity” that may curb top‑down control.
If adopted, pluralistic identity could preserve pseudonymity while letting users prove credentials on demand. This model aims to prevent surveillance monopolies and support an open, user‑centered ID layer for Web3.
Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $2,425.01 USDT, reflecting a marginal daily gain of 0.24%. Despite this short-term stabilization, ETH remains under bearish pressure from a broader perspective. Over the last week, the asset has declined by approximately 3.95%, and on a monthly timeframe, it has lost around 8.99%. Year-to-date performance is notably negative, with Ethereum having dropped 29.72%, underscoring a prolonged downtrend and waning market momentum.
From a technical standpoint, Ethereum is currently exhibiting a neutral to bearish bias. Technical indicators on the daily chart show a “sell” signal, while the weekly view leans toward neutrality. The 1-month signal reinforces bearish sentiment, aligning with the broader declining structure. ETH continues to trade below its major moving averages, and volatility remains elevated at 1.17%, making short-term price fluctuations more pronounced and speculative.
Until ETH can reclaim critical resistance levels above $2,600–$2,700, its structural weakness is likely to persist. A breach below the psychological support of $2,300 could accelerate downside pressure toward $2,100–$2,050, especially if broader market risk sentiment deteriorates.
