Algebraic K-theory is an invariant of rings (or algebraic varieties) that sees deep geometric and arithmetic information (ranging from Chow rings to special values of L-functions), but is generally difficult to compute. One reason for the complexity of algebraic K-theory is that it fails to satisfy \'etale descent. A general principle in algebraic K-theory (going to Lichtenbaum-Quillen, and proved in the work of Voevodsky-Rost on the Bloch-Kato conjecture) is that it is not too far off from doing so. I will explain this principle and some new extensions of this (joint with Dustin Clausen) in p-adic settings.