Ethereum’s true decentralization questioned
Anthony Pompliano, a podcast host, Bitcoin minimalist and cryptocurrency investor, said sometime back that a large portion of the Ethereum network is hosted on third-party clouds like Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud service run by e-commerce giant Amazon.
He asserted sometime back that Jeff Bezos has the authority to terminate Ethereum-based DeFi dapps at any time because Pomp severely doubts its decentralized character.
In addition, he rhetorically questioned the community about the proportion of Ethereum-based DeFi projects that are truly decentralized, expressing his skepticism rather than seeking a concrete response, it appears.
Pompliano’s concerns over the decentralized nature of DeFi
In their simplest form, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are just pieces of software. They require hosting to function effectively, just like any website or web application. Additionally, the Ethereum network is far larger and more difficult to host on equipment at home, whereas the Bitcoin network is still only 300 gigabytes.
Pompliano’s tweet, “[He] could shut down most of these Ethereum-based “DeFi” apps by simply switching down AWS,” sparked a discussion about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. If all you do is spin up servers with Uncle Jeff, you’re not decentralized.
Nevertheless, Pompliano—as he is known—didn’t think his jab would stick around for long. Shortly after, The Defiant’s founder and journalist Camilla Russo tweeted in response to Pomp’s statement: “Ethereum nodes could probably be more decentralized. However, the evidence does not support this claim.
According to data from Ethernodes, which refers to cloud providers, 70.5% of Ethereum nodes are operating, as Russo noted. As a result, just 33% of these nodes are using AWS. That means 23%, or less than a quarter, of the Ethereum network, is hosted on AWS.
Due to this, Bezos could not, in Russo’s opinion, shut down the Ethereum network if he so desired.
Nevertheless, an unsatisfied Pomp persisted in asking the tweet’s respondents (no fewer than three times) if they thought DeFi applications were truly decentralized.
BTC nodes also use AWS
The creator of the cryptocurrency trading platform ShapeShift, Eric Vorhees, made a similar case for Bitcoin: “Most Bitcoin nodes also run on AWS because AWS powers the majority of servers of all kinds.
But Vorhees’ argument was refuted. According to data from Bitnodes, Alex Thorn, an investor at blockchain venture capital firm Avon Ventures, observed that Bitcoin nodes were “far more spread” on the network and appeared to be operated by home users.
Regardless of whether Ethereum is decentralized, it is evident that there is constant tribalism between it and the Bitcoin community.
Uniswap is outside Amazon’s control
User Pomp agreed with Ross Campbell when he said that immutable contracts or the ipfs served front ends cannot be shut down by Amazon. Bezos cannot halt immutable contracts or the front ends that the IPFS serves. One illustration of Uniswap on IPFS. Tushar Jain, Camila Russo, Adam Back from Blockstream, Ouriel Ohayon from ZenGo, and others who disagreed with the discussion’s points of view.
Erik Voorhees, the CEO and founder of ShapeShift, also participated in the contentious debate. He began by pointing out that AWS also hosts a large number of Bitcoin nodes. Winnie Lingam, an investor, backed him in this. Voorhees took a different stance this conversation in a subsequent tweet without mentioning it. He contrasted those who criticize Ethereum today as modern Bitcoin maximalists to the “nevercoiners” who attacked Bitcoin in its infancy. It’s spooky, he grumbled.
