Vitalik Buterin Wants You to Try Digital Minimalism
October 31, 2026, Evening
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin published a new essay today arguing that the minimalism movement of the 2000s and 2010s, which focused on owning fewer physical things, needs a digital counterpart. He calls it "digital minimalism": making each use of technology a conscious choice rather than something you get sucked into by default [1].
Quitting the Algorithm
Buterin did not leave X (formerly Twitter). He left the X interface. For much of this year, he has been posting through Firefly, a multi-client that combines X, Bluesky, Farcaster, and Lens. His stated goal was to support decentralized social media, but he discovered an unexpected benefit: he felt much better [1].
The reason, he suspects, is that Firefly lacks The Algorithm. On X, the recommendation engine learned from his morbid curiosity about extreme content and fed him more of it. He describes the trap: see one outrageous tweet, click around, the algorithm marks it as an interest, see ten more, repeat. Even after the platform improved, he found himself less interested in the daily culture wars once he stopped using the native interface [1].
His verdict: "I recommend more people try this." Use a third-party client, restrict X to certain days, whatever reduces the vortex effect [1].
100 Days of Airplane Mode
For 100 days, Buterin kept his phone on airplane mode permanently. He still used Wi-Fi, but never the cellular connection. Two goals drove the experiment [1]:
Privacy. A phone connected to a cell network is an always-on tracking device. Cell companies are notoriously bad at keeping location data secure and sometimes sell it directly. Anonymous SIM cards do not solve this because the phone's IMEI number links it across its entire lifetime, and fine-grained movement patterns can be re-identified with modern AI [1].
Mental health. Being without internet for significant periods outside rebuilt his habit of surviving without it, giving him more mental peace and space to think [1].
He considers the experiment a success. His largest inconvenience was in Singapore, where he could not receive SMS confirmation codes to log into Grab, the local ride-hailing app. He took the subway instead. Since the 100 days ended, he has continued an "airplane mode by default" lifestyle, opening the cell connection only occasionally [1].
Local-First Apps
Without cell data, Buterin turned to local-first applications. For navigation, he used CoMaps, a mapping app that downloads OpenStreetMap data and works offline. His review: worse than Google Maps for restaurants and stores, but better for trails and nature [1].
He also became interested in local world knowledge apps. Compressed English Wikipedia without media is only 27 GB. OpenStreetMap's full planet file is 2.2 TB, but could be pruned to 1 to 10 percent for practical use. The idea of carrying meaningful information about the entire world on your device, without needing a network, appeals to him as both a privacy and resilience strategy [1].
Why It Resonates
Buterin's essay is not a productivity hack list. It is a philosophical argument that the same intentionality we apply to physical possessions should apply to digital ones. The algorithms, the always-on connectivity, the constant notifications, these are not neutral tools. They shape attention and mood in ways that are hard to notice from inside the vortex [1].
The experiments are extreme. 100 days without cell data is not something most people will try. But the underlying principle, that each digital interaction should be a conscious choice, is applicable at any scale. Switching to a third-party social media client, turning off notifications for an afternoon, downloading offline maps for a hike, these are small versions of the same idea [1].