In an interview with MTS, Vitalik explained why he prefers to describe Ethereum's mission as "sanctuary technologies" rather than simply open source or decentralization.

He believes the world is less peaceful and less safe than it was a decade ago. Another "safety solution" is to trust governments or super AI companies to arrange everything for us, but the cost could be surrendering privacy and autonomy.

Encryption can't fix the whole world, but it can create a sanctuary that respects freedom more and still allows people to choose.