While many players in the blockchain industry prioritize maximizing throughput, Alex Mizrahi, co-founder of Chromaway, believes that providing users with a transparent, secure, and decentralized computing environment is still just as important. So while blockchain projects strive to meet the basic need to conduct transactions, Mizrahi emphasizes that establishing consensus between nodes should not be the only goal.
Many Dapps rely on centralized services
Despite this being the stated goal of many blockchain projects, Alex Mizrahi, co-founder of Chromaway, revealed that countless decentralized applications (dapps) actually “rely on centralized services to retrieve, index, and verify data.” He also claims that very few end users interact directly with blockchain nodes because these nodes are not designed to provide data directly to users.
Mizrahi, who is also co-founder of Colored Coins, recommends rethinking how data flows into blockchain systems if projects want to achieve the efficiencies they seek. Meanwhile, when asked about the discrepancy between the government’s idea of privacy and the need for decentralization, Mizrahi said that this discrepancy and the resulting “tug of war” predates the blockchain and will always exist.
In other comments on Bitcoin.com News, Mizrahi also shared his thoughts on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and what this approval means for the future crypto industry. In addition, he gave his view on Vitalik Buterin’s conclusion that synchronous atomic compossibility is overestimated.
Below are Mizrahi’s answers to all questions sent.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently criticized the innovative “Synchronous Atomic Composability,” describing it as a highly overrated blockchain feature. His criticism sparked a debate, with some community members accusing the Ethereum co-founder of repeatedly criticizing blockchain innovations without justification. Do you support Buterin’s view that Synchronous Atomic Composability is overrated and unnecessary in the blockchain space?
Alex Mizrahi (AM): I disagree with everyone who says Vitalik said what he said “without justification.” I think his argument is well presented in this thread, and I agree with his central premise that the simplest and most user-friendly solution is often the best.
That said, I think it’s always worth exploring new innovations and what they have to offer. It’s entirely possible that SAC isn’t the best solution for every problem, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary; there may be other applications.
BCN: Some users have accused Buterin of repeatedly going against legitimate foundations and technological advances. Perhaps some of Buterin’s critics view his actions as deliberate attempts to eliminate competition for his Ethereum project. Do you see Buterin’s actions as those of someone concerned about the entire blockchain industry, or does he come across as someone who wants to protect the interests of his main project, Ethereum?
BEN: I think it’s clear that Vitalik has the best interests of the industry and Ethereum in mind. If he didn’t care, he’d probably be on a beach somewhere.
Anyone with a deep technical understanding knows that every new approach has pros, cons, tradeoffs, and so on. I would be even more surprised if he expressed 100% support for a particular innovation. If he thought this was the best approach, wouldn’t he already be contributing to it?
I think this give and take is all part of the market ideas, and that usually the best ideas and solutions will ultimately have the biggest impact.
BCN: Removing redundancy is an ideal way to improve the efficiency of blockchain protocols. This philosophy seems to be in line with that of Chromia as a relational blockchain. Can you briefly highlight why Chromia decided to pursue a solution in this direction?
AM: Layer-2s were created in response to a bottleneck created by the Layer-1 design. For example, if transactions become too expensive, you create a Layer-2 that enables faster and cheaper transactions. If the chain is slow to index data, someone creates a Layer-2 that reads and indexes blockchain data.
When you build something from the ground up, it makes sense that you would try to avoid these problems in the first place. Chromia and other new Layer-1s have the advantage of being able to see what has and hasn’t worked in the past. By fundamentally changing the way information is stored on-chain, Chromia provides automatically indexed data that can be easily retrieved.
BCN: Similar to Buterin’s criticism of Synchronous Atomic Composability and how it can be easily replaced by existing solutions, do you consider some L2 solutions as a redundancy in the blockchain industry?
BEN: My main criticism of L2s is that most of them don’t offer anything new other than faster and cheaper transactions. By analogy, if Ethereum is a shopping cart, then many Ethereum L2s are just a shopping cart with a rocket strapped to it, or perhaps an organizer that helps you organize the things in the cart more effectively.
I find it more interesting when developers ask themselves, “what if we built something that wasn’t a shopping cart?”
BCN: Chromia will soon launch the MVP mainnet of its relational blockchain network. Can you explain to our readers what a relational blockchain platform is and what the launch of the MVP mainnet means for the broader crypto community?
BEN: Relational databases are a proven technology that underlies the applications we use every day. They structure complex data sets in a way that makes it easy to read, write and search. Chromia is a ‘relational blockchain’ because it combines these strengths with the permissionless nature of blockchain.
The launch of the MVP mainnet forms the basis for the Chromia network. It means the broader crypto community can deploy and use dapps on a platform with efficient data processing, instant block indexing, and gas-free transactions for end users. We use the term ‘MVP’ because this launch is more like the basic skeleton. New features, upgrades and ecosystem project launches will happen later this year.
BCN: Data management is an ongoing issue in the blockchain industry and is key to achieving blockchain efficiency. Achieving an efficient data management system would solve problems such as scalability and interoperability. How do you assess the sector’s performance so far in this direction? Do you think there are still many reasons to discuss how blockchains handle data, and what are your recommendations?
BEN: Industry efforts are focused on maximizing throughput, measured in the number of confirmed transactions per second. While it is important to fulfill the basic need to carry out transactions, we must also remember that the purpose of blockchain is not just to establish consensus between nodes. The end goal, as I understand it, is to provide users with a transparent, secure, decentralized computing environment.
And unfortunately, these aspects are often overlooked. For example, many of the so-called “decentralized applications” rely on centralized services to retrieve, index, and verify data. Very few end users interact directly with blockchain nodes because these nodes are simply not designed to provide data directly to users.
I recommend looking at the big picture: how does the data flow through the system as a whole? What would be best for users and applications?
BCN: It’s worth noting that the core of blockchain regulation revolves around data governance, given increased concerns about data privacy and security. Typically, regulators’ idea of data privacy clashes with the blockchain philosophy of a decentralized ecosystem. Do you foresee a situation where there would be a balance between both sides of the divide, or do you see this tug-of-war between the government and the blockchain industry continuing?
BEN: This is difficult to answer definitively as different governments will take different positions on this issue. Ultimately, time will tell which approach is successful.
Overall, there will always be a battle between the individual’s right to privacy and the efforts of companies and governments to collect information. I would say that blockchain is just a new medium for an age-old problem.
BCN: Developments in 2024, such as the spot approvals for Bitcoin and Ethereum, suggest that regulators may abandon their hardline stance on crypto. Some critics of the US government claim that this is happening because of the upcoming elections and as a political move to sway voters. Do you think the US government is sincere in its approach to blockchain and crypto regulation, and where do you see this trend going in the future?
BEN: Adoption never happens in a straight line, but I think it is inevitable that blockchain and crypto will become a mainstream part of the global economy. History shows that there will always be resistance to new ideas, especially those that challenge long-standing traditions and industries. I’m actually surprised at how far things have progressed in a short time. If someone had told me in 2015 that there would be a Bitcoin ETF within ten years, I would have been skeptical. But here we are!
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