There's a powerful—yet divisive—statement buried in the Trustless Manifesto that deserves more attention: Ethereum wasn't designed to make finance faster or applications easier. Its real purpose? To liberate people. That's the core idea. Many miss this distinction entirely, treating Ethereum as just another efficiency tool. But the philosophy goes deeper. It's about removing intermediaries, questioning centralized control, and giving individuals genuine agency over their own assets and data. Whether you agree or not, this vision fundamentally shaped how the network was built and continues to influence its evolution. Understanding this distinction matters if you want to grasp what Ethereum was truly meant to achieve.