Author: Martin Young, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Tao Zhu, Golden Finance

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has chosen a new Ethereum domain specifically referring to “defensive accelerationism.”

On August 18, Vitalik Buterin registered the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain “dacc.eth” for 0.187 ETH (just under $500).

The announcement comes just days after Buterin was set to discuss “defensive accelerationism” (d/acc) with Prime Intellect founder and decentralization advocate Vincent Weisser and Ethereum Foundation head Skylar Weaver at the X Spaces Discovery event on August 22.

Source: Ethereum Foundation Devcon

What is d/acc?

Buterin first introduced the concept of d/acc in November in a blog post titled “My Technological Optimism,” in which many of his arguments were directed at the state of artificial intelligence.

D/acc recommends focusing on human-machine collaboration and augmentation, rather than fully autonomous AI. In May, Buterin warned against the use of “superintelligent” AI, calling it “risky.”

It is also distinct from the notion of effective accelerationism (e/acc) prevalent in Silicon Valley and big tech, which advocates for an explicitly unrestricted, pro-technology stance, such as allowing artificial intelligence to develop largely unhindered.

Buterin’s d/acc advocates for a controlled, cautious approach to technological development and promotes more decentralization.

This could include advancing technology for more resilient infrastructure, pandemic preparedness, cyber defense, and information defense, such as tools to combat disinformation.

The idea is positioned as a middle ground between unfettered technological acceleration and overly restrictive regulation.

“I’ve seen too many plans to save the world that involve giving extreme and opaque power to a small group of people and hoping they use it wisely,” Buterin said.

The philosophy “seeks to create and maintain a more democratic world and tries to avoid centralization as the preferred solution to our problems,” Buterin explained.

Meanwhile, degen memecoin minters have wasted no time in creating unrelated tokens called DACC, some of which have surged as much as 400% according to data from DEX Screener.