Catenaa, July 13, 2025– Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has publicly shifted his stance on software licensing, now supporting “copyleft” frameworks that impose stricter rules on code redistribution.
In a blog post published Monday, Buterin called for developers to embrace licenses like CC-BY-SA and GPL, which mandate that any derivative works must carry the same license.
Previously an advocate for permissive open-source licensing, Buterin said the evolving nature of crypto development requires stronger guarantees of openness. He described the move as a strategic way of “using copyright against itself” to enforce continued accessibility of blockchain innovations.
Buterin’s shift is driven in part by concerns that large corporations, including tech giants like Google and Huawei, are integrating open-source code without contributing back. He also pointed to a more “mercenary” crypto landscape, where developers often choose not to open-source their tools unless required to do so.
“The argument for open source cannot just rely on ‘please,’” Buterin wrote, suggesting developers use licensing as leverage. “It must be accompanied by the hard power of giving access to some code only to those who open up theirs.”
The crypto community, rooted in cypherpunk ideals, has long championed transparency and free access to code. However, issues around licensing have surfaced more frequently in NFT and metaverse projects, where creators seek stronger protections.
Buterin’s comments are expected to spark renewed debate over the balance between innovation and intellectual property in decentralized ecosystems.
