Vitalik Buterin Hopes Centralized Exchanges Burn in Hell

 

2018 has been a rough  year for cryptocurrency and Vitalik Buterin hopes centralized exchanges  burn in hell. Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, made the tempered  statement at the TechCrunch Sessions Blockchain event in Zug,  Switzerland. Centralized Concerns  Buterin’s discussion with the host, Jon Evens, focused on issues of  centralization and decentralization in cryptocurrency. Buterin, who is  known for his quirky personality, provided a great deal of insight to  shortcomings he has identified within the space.
 

The conversation began  with Buterin noting that there has not been enough focus on  decentralization. This statement rings true, especially when considering  hash rates.  “Back in 2013, when GHash had 51 percent everybody freaked out. It’s  happening a second time and people aren’t really talking about it this  much.” Buterin said.  Buterin was likely alluding to Bitmain, the Chinese mining tool, which  is edging toward a 51 percent of network hash rate.  Buterin hopes to make Ethereum as decentralized as possible by design.  “The Ethereum Foundation tries very hard to be a decentralized  organization. We try very hard not to have a very hard divide, such as  you’re on the inside and you’re on the outside.”

 

Issues with Regulation  The discussion also touched on the balance between decentralization and  adhering to formal regulation. Buterin acknowledged criticisms of the  Ethereum project being too decentralized to meet regulatory  requirements, stating “In a lot of industries, I understand that it  comes down to compromises.” However, Buterin went on to emphasize the  importance of focusing on innovation over compromise. Vitalik Buterin Hopes Centralized Exchanges Burn in Hell  Finally, in the most quotable moment of the discussion, and perhaps even  of the entire TechCrunch Sessions Blockchain event, Buterin said –  “I  definitely hope centralized exchanges go burn in hell as much as  possible.”  There are dozens of decentralized projects to watch in 2018. Yogesh  Srihari, co-founder of LQDEX, an inter-blockchain exchange launching  this year, commented on Buterin’s discussion: “Buterin is right.  Centralized exchanges don’t fit with the big picture of cryptocurrency.  The ethos of bitcoin lies within it’s open-source, decentralized  nature.”