@vitalikbuterin was a guest on the @greenpillnet podcast, delivering an in-depth year-end interview discussing public goods financing within the Ethereum ecosystem. Thanks to @devanshmehta for co-hosting. We discussed how the public goods financing landscape is shifting from "feel-based" financing to verifiable, dependency-driven mechanisms, and why now is the best time to reform public goods financing using new tools such as programmable cryptography, AI-assisted evaluation, and deep financing models. Vitalik shared his views on dependency, trust neutrality, open-source licensing, diversity, accountability, Ethereum localization, and priorities developers should consider in the coming year. 00:00 – Welcome to the Greenpill Podcast 01:50 – Vitalik Joins: Why Public Goods Funding Matters 02:19 – Why Public Goods Funding is Crucial for Decentralization 04:18 – The Spirit of Cryptocurrency: Censorship Resistance, Institutional Design, and Funding 06:42 – The Shift from “Atmosphere” Public Goods Funding to Verifiable Mechanisms 08:25 – Why 2026 is the Best Time to Reform Public Goods Funding 10:19 – Where Does Public Goods Funding Actually Come From? 12:45 – Open Source Licensing, Taxation, and Funding Dependencies 17:34 – “Funding Dependencies” as a Stable Mechanism 19:35 – Why Universal Quantum Finance Doesn’t Work in a Chaotic World 21:59 – Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down: Multi-Centered Public Goods Funds (PGFs) 25:29 – How to Establish Accountability in Public Goods 27:22 – Funding Open Source Projects is a Priority for Ethereum 29:31 – Privacy as a Public Good and Why It’s Upstream of the Public Goods Fund (PGF) 31:54 – The Real Perspective of Open Source Software Developers on Cryptocurrencies 33:52 – Combining Social Advocacy with Funding Support 35:56 – What Should Public Goods Fund (PGF) Builders Focus On in 2026? 38:13 – Focus on New Projects, Not Legacy Projects 39:44 – Ecosystem Cycles and “Sedimentation Layers” 41:39 – Yield-Based Financing (One-Eighth) and Fund Management Strategies 43:40 – Accountability: From Atmosphere to Rigorous Mechanisms 47:35 – Incentives, Feedback, and the Psychology of Public Goods 50:43 – Profit-Sharing Licensing and Sustainable Public Fund Pools 53:46 – Security, Issuance, and Public Goods 56:12 – Technological Democracy and Long-Term Risks 58:31 – The Relationship Between PGF and DIAC (Defense/Decentralized Accelerator) 01:00:05 – How to Solve the Free-Rider Problem Without Coercion 01:02:12 – Mechanisms and Coercion: Credible Neutrality 01:04:16 – Institutions, Power, and Capture Risk 01:06:16 – Individuals and Institutions in PGF 01:08:41 – Why PGF is more fault-tolerant than governance 01:11:01 – Diversity: Numerous funders