The hallmark of blockchain technology is decentralization. A typical blockchain is expected to be free from control of central authorities like government agencies and corporations. This was the vision Satoshi Nakamoto had for Bitcoin when he created the blockchain. After Bitcoin was created, other blockchains were created with the same model. One of them was Ethereum. The Ethereum blockchain, just like Bitcoin, is meant to be immutable and decentralised. However, not everyone believes that Ethereum is truly decentralized.
Ethereum Is Not Decentralized
Ethereum Is Not Decentralized
A few days ago, an attorney at Bryne and Storm, Preston Byrne, said that Ethereum doesn’t fit into the definition of what blockchain is supposed to be. Taking to his Twitter handle, Bryne created a trend about his thoughts of Ethereum in relation to the constantinople fork that was delayed because of a security risk.
Ethereum (ETH) Price Today – BTC / USD
| Name | Price | 24H % |
|---|---|---|
 | $0.00 | -2.08% |
Byrne, the founder of the first ever open-source permissioned blockchain, Monax, explained his thoughts about Ethereum with vivid illustrations. According to him, Ethereum, which is often referred to as the world’s decentralized computer, is clearly centralized. Following his tweet, he explained himself more accurately on his personal blog. First off, he said that there are many red flags that points to the centralized nature of Ethereum. He made reference to the Ether token. In his opinion, the ICO premine is not free of suspicion hence the centralization of wealth on the blockchain. He went on to note that the ICO hodlers on the Ethereum blockchain have the power to crash the system. Keep in mind that these ones have refused to liquidate their tokens even with the pressure from the bear market.
Secondly, he said that the nodes on the blockchain promote centralization. He referred to providers of centralized services like Infura as a cause of decentralization. According to him, these service providers have massive influence on the blockchain. The node subsector has been curbed by the lack of scaling solutions.
Another point Bryne made was the shortage of Ethereum clients that left the network dominated by Parity and Geth. Finally, referencing the events around the constantinople fork, he said that the Ethereum developers have too much authority over the network and could make notable changes at will. Bryne said this power is questionable.
Social Media Responds To Bryne’s Comments
As expected, Bryne’s comments sparked a discussion on cryptocurrency Twitter. Many cryptocurrency analysts and commentators from different parts of the globe started airing their opinions about his comments. While some agreed with him, other didn’t. For example, the CEO and founder of The Block, Mike Dudas, said that he wasn’t convinced of Byrne’s take on the centralization of Ethereum.
A pro-blockchain pragmatic fringe technologist, Michael Sullivan, said that decentralized technology, at its core, can never be truly free from centralization. The distinguishing factor will be finding a balance between distributed consensus and central control. This means that even Bitcoin has some sort of centralization but the level of distributed consensus is what makes it unique.
Whether Byrne’s points are baseless or not, the truth is that they will be used against Ethereum in the months to come. At the time of writing, none of Ethereum’s core developers had responded to the blog post or Twitter update.
Do you agree with Byrne? Do you think Ethereum is centralized in every sense of the word? Share your thoughts.
