Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
April 11, 2019 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- Debates over what makes
a blockchain project decentralized have been raging since the
blockchain industry first became bigger than just Bitcoin. From
Roger Ver and Jimmy Song to Nick Szabo and Vlad Zamfir, and beyond,
everyone seems to have a different opinion on the best way to
decentralize a blockchain network.
Despite the fact that so many
different opinions exist in such a small industry, at least one
fact is clear. If the ownership of the network’s assets is not
completely transparent, then the network in question is likely not
decentralized.
With this in mind, the news
surrounding MakerDAO yesterday could definitely be seen as serious
trouble for the network. Reportedly, during the MakerDAO network’s
weekly call with participants, a key question was left
unanswered.
Who is heading up the foundation
that originally helped the Dai stablecoin to go live? According to
CoinDesk, this foundation now has the responsibility of allocating
funds for the continued development of the network, which means
that they control 27% of all of the Maker tokens that are currently
in circulation. What makes this situation arguably even more
sketchy is that nine anonymous individuals make up the entire board
of directors of the foundation.
Why does this relate to how
decentralized the MakerDAO network is, as well as the title above?
It’s simple really. Since the identities of these directors were
not given, no one seems to know who is responsible for the
continued development of the MakerDAO ecosystem.
The foundation’s lawyer essential
refused to divulge any of these names and apparently suggested that
doing so would cause trouble for him in some fashion. Exactly what
this means is, at this time, unclear.
What is, is that until the
foundation changes its’ leadership structure to one that is
community run as CoinDesk has claimed they will do, the MakerDAO
network is not decentralized.
Looking beyond this example, it is
easy to see many other holes in the promises of crypto networks.
EOS is still run by a handful of nodes, as is Tron. Cardano appears
to depend heavily on more than one foundation. The Ethereum network
lives and dies with the decisions of developers during their calls.
Until all of this changes, it may be argued that there is no truly
decentralized network. Centralization still rules, that is, unless
the network in question is Bitcoin.
By: BGN Editorial Staff