Ethereum Co-Founder Buterin Used His Phone in Airplane Mode for 100 Days: The Results
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin kept his phone in airplane mode for 100 days to reduce digital surveillance and break the habit of aimlessly scrolling through social media feeds.
Buterin left the option to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi enabled but turned off his cellular data. According to him, this helps limit the amount of location data that a mobile carrier can collect.
In addition, the lack of a constant connection makes the smartphone less appealing for aimless content browsing.
Vitalik Buterin uses the Firefly client to interact with the social network X. It allows him to read posts and publish his own, but does not offer the usual endless feed of recommendations.
Buterin noted that without the endless scrolling mechanism, he finds it more comfortable to use the social network. This approach helps him focus on specific posts rather than wasting time constantly scrolling through recommended content.
Another change concerns working with cryptocurrency services. Buterin is moving some operations from websites to the command line—an interface where users enter text commands instead of clicking buttons on web pages.
In particular, to update ENS data, he uses a tool created with the help of artificial intelligence.
ENS (Ethereum Name Service) is a service within the Ethereum ecosystem that allows human-readable names to be linked to addresses on the blockchain.
Switching to local tools also offers a security advantage. Even a legitimate website can become dangerous if its server is hacked and the code received by the user is tampered with. Using the command line for certain operations reduces reliance on web interfaces, though this alone does not guarantee complete protection.
While traveling, the co-founder of Ethereum noticed a large number of open Wi-Fi hotspots in Ukrainian cities.
In his personal ranking of wireless internet accessibility, Buterin even placed Ukraine above Switzerland.
The developer’s experiment shows that digital minimalism does not necessarily mean completely giving up your smartphone or the internet. It’s primarily about controlling your connection, making conscious choices about apps, and reducing features that encourage users to constantly return to their screens.
He shared his experience in a post about digital minimalism, where he explained how he changed his approach to using his smartphone, social media, and cryptocurrency services.
As a reminder, Ethereum has begun actively preparing for potential quantum attacks—the platform’s foundation has created a dedicated research resource and allocated $2 million to develop defenses against these future challenges.
The Ethereum Foundation has released Strawmap—a detailed roadmap for the development of the Ethereum blockchain network over the coming years, which calls for seven hard forks approximately every six months. Two major updates—Glamsterdam and Hegota—are expected as early as 2026.
