Crypto Pundit: Ethereum (ETH) Is “Doomed To Be Centralized”

"Ethereum (ETH) Is Arguably Centralized" On January 14th, Preston Byrne, an attorney at Bryne & Storm that is enamored with blockchain technology, took to Twitter to mention his thoughts on Ethereum (ETH), likely in the context of the then-impending Constantinople hard fork, which was recently delayed due to security qualms. Byrne joked that the popular blockchain is more centralized than "the core of a neutron store falling into the event horizon of a black hole," accentuating his true thoughts on Ethereum. Bryne first noted that while he cannot conclusively conclude that Ethereum is centralized, there are a number of red flags that point towards immense centralization within the ecosystem.

Then, the attorney noted that Ethereum nodes accentuate centralization, remarking how "centralized services providers, especially ConsenSys-backed Infura (an upstart promoting scalable blockchain infrastructure), exercise outsize influence over node infrastructure." Then, Bryne noted that there is a lack of Ethereum clients, as Geth and Parity currently dominate the ecosystem. Lastly, in reference to the Constantinople debacle, Bryne stated that the fact that Ethereum's core developers had the authority to make notable changes on a moment's notice is questionable.

Byrne responded by noting that the broader blockchain ecosystem "shouldn't take Ethereum's ecosystem boosters" at their word, "given the three or four red flags of centralization." Yet, there were still others who responded to Byrne's primer on Ethereum's centralization with cynicism and hate. Anyhow, the bottom line is that Byrne's eye-opening post garnered flak and support, and may become a talking point regarding Ethereum in the months that follow.

Timeline of Ethereum, Storm