Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed moving away from the concept of “public goods” in favor of “open” products.

According to Buterin, public goods are particularly important in decentralized digital systems, but the term itself is problematic and subject to distortion.

He noted that in public discourse, the term is often equated with government activities. As a result, products are classified as public goods not based on their functions and properties but on self-proclaimed intentions and authorship.

The Ethereum founder pointed out that some companies claim to create public goods while operating as commercial projects with their own tokens.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a commercial project, and often there’s nothing wrong with launching a token. However, this highlights a flaw in the concept of ‘public good’—it is so easily distorted that today it often just means ‘a project,’” Buterin stated.

As an alternative, he suggested focusing on the idea of “open-source products.”

According to Buterin, this category includes significant examples of “clear public goods”—academic research in blockchain technology and cryptographic protocols, technical documentation, educational materials, and open-source software such as Ethereum clients.

He argued that open-source projects are inherently public goods, with definitions provided by the Free Software Foundation and Open Source Initiative standing for decades.

Buterin emphasized that the focus should be on creating things of maximum value to humanity—being labeled as “open” should not be considered a virtue in itself.

In February, the Ethereum Foundation donated $1.25 million to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev.