Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called on the growing trend for centralization in the crypto industry.
Decentralization is the core of blockchain technology, but the industry loses sight of it. During the annual Ethereum Community Conference on Wednesday 2 June, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called the growing trend to centralization in Crypto.
Although a vision of privacy, freedom and transparency fueled early crypto, things could take a different turn, Buterin warned. He drew a parallel with web 1.0, the early version of the internet, which evolved into something completely different from the original ideals.
“And I mean, many of the ways in which the internet in general turned out to be very different from the early types of web 1.0 visions. That happens, both in terms of government control and it as it is also a business check,” Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Foundation.
This shift is not only a care for user empowerment, butterin added – it is also a security risk. Many startups build decentralized applications with centralized frontends, such as websites and mobile apps. Buterin referred to these Dapps as ‘Strohuizen’, with the argument that attackers can endanger centralized front ends.
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Decentralization standards must be higher: Buterin
Buterin emphasized that decentralization is not only about having many Validators or DAO voice mechanisms. Instead, he pointed to the “Walkaway test” as the real size for decentralization – that is, whether an app would still function if his core team would disappear.
“In short, if your company suddenly disappears in all its servers, do your users still have their assets? This is the most basin line that you should try to get from your assets,” explained Buterin.
Interestingly, the idea reflects the logic behind the SEC test, which is used to determine whether a financial instrument, including a crypto -toky, is eligible as a security.
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