The Decentralization Process of Ethereum: Understanding the Importance of "Exit Testing"

Recently, a co-founder of Ethereum raised a thought-provoking point at the EthCC conference in France: if Ethereum cannot achieve true decentralization, its future may face a survival crisis. To assess the degree of decentralization of a protocol, he proposed three key testing criteria: exit test, internal attack test, and trusted computing base test.

Among them, the exit test is considered the most fundamental and critical link. It directly points to a core issue: when the project team disbands or the platform becomes unavailable, can users still safely withdraw their assets and complete interactions?

The Essence of Exit Testing

The core of testing exit is to verify whether the project allows users to autonomously exit, withdraw assets, and interact on-chain even when the development team is completely "out of contact". This is more like a fallback clause in extreme cases, aimed at verifying whether the protocol truly achieves "Decentralization".

As early as 2022, the founder of Ethereum criticized the "auxiliary wheel" architecture adopted by most Rollup projects, pointing out that they excessively rely on centralized operation and manual intervention to ensure security. Some assessment frameworks categorize Rollup projects into three stages of decentralization, ranging from complete reliance on centralized control to limited reliance, and finally to full decentralization.

One of the core indicators of this assessment is: Can users complete fund withdrawals on their own without the cooperation of an operator? This seemingly simple question is actually crucial.

The ultimate goal of Decentralization

Exiting the test is not only a technical issue but also a deep practice of the Web3 concept. It directly addresses the most concerned question of users: "Can I freely manage my assets at any time?" This also explains why Bitcoin and Ethereum have become the top choices for new users and institutions to enter the market—these networks can still function normally even without a founding team.

A protocol that truly passes the exit test means that even if all nodes go offline and all operators leave, users can still independently perform operations through on-chain tools and third-party front ends. This reflects the core idea of "Not your keys, not your coins."

The Wide Application of Exit Testing in the Web3 Ecosystem

In fact, the concept of exit testing has been practiced in multiple areas of Web3. For example, mainstream Web3 wallets almost all allow the export of private keys or mnemonic phrases, enabling users to easily migrate their assets to any wallet software or hardware device. This design ensures that users do not need to trust the wallet company itself to maintain control over their funds indefinitely.

Building a Sustainable Decentralization Framework

The three core tests proposed by the founder of Ethereum constitute a complete closed loop:

1. Exit Testing: Ensure that users can redeem themselves after the project ceases operations.
2. Internal Attack Testing: Verify whether the system can withstand malicious acts or collusion attacks from developers.
3. Trusted Computing Base Test: Assess whether the amount of code that users need to trust is sufficiently small and auditable.

These three tests collectively build a decentralized foundational framework for the long-term sustainable development of Ethereum, truly realizing the concept of "trustless and verifiable".

In the Web3 world, true trust comes from verifiability. Only through transparent mathematics and algorithms, allowing users to verify at any time, can we truly achieve peace of mind in usage, without worrying about external factors such as the moral integrity of the project team.

If this cannot be achieved, Ethereum may become a footnote in history like many once-glorious but ultimately mediocre technologies. Therefore, continuously advancing the process of decentralization, especially improving the exit mechanism, is crucial for the future development of Ethereum.