Ripple (XRP) is the subject of a heated debate on its centralization between supporters and detractors of this cryptocurrency. Justin Bons, founder of CyberCapital, accuses Ripple executives of making false promises of decentralization. But Matt Hamilton and David Schwartz are not letting it go, and they vigorously refute these accusations. The debate is raging and it does not seem ready to stop!
Is Ripple’s XRP really decentralized?
Feuds between supporters of Bitcoin and those of other networks are rife in the cryptosphere. Moreover, this opposition gave rise to the term “maximalist”, designating the fervent defenders of Bitcoin. Some of these maxis are so extreme that they consider any crypto other than BTC to be “shitcoin”.
But let’s leave aside the “maxi” and “shitcoins” story. Back to Justin Bons, founder of CyberCapital. The latter called the comments of Ripple executives a scam, claiming that their blockchain is decentralized and uncensorable.
In a series of 25 tweets published on May 6, Bons issued criticisms of the fundamentals and architecture of the Ripple protocol. He believes that the latter is very centralized and does not meet the decentralization standards required for a blockchain.
“”Ripple executives falsely claim that XRP is decentralized and permissionless. This thread finally proves that the Foundation de facto controls the entire network! Contrary to their claim that XRP is more decentralized than BTC and ETH. The smoking gun was found:”
According to Bons critics, confidence in the XRP consensus is being shaken by the unique node lists (UNLs) published by centralized parties, including the XRPL Foundation. If a node is not on this list, it cannot participate in the consensus, which contradicts the fundamental principles of a decentralized network. In addition, users must receive authorization from trusted third parties chosen by the XRPL Foundation.
Matt Hamilton defends the decentralization of XRP
After Justin Bons’ accusations about the centralization of XRP, Ripple wanted to react. Matt Hamilton, former head of developer relations at Ripple, defended the XRP blockchain by refuting Bons’ claims.
According to this former director of Ripple, “each node is responsible for its own UNL and chooses its content, without any central authority. Additionally, he pointed out that the XRPL Foundation UNL is the result of an emerging community desire to use a non-Ripple UNL..”
David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple also did not remain silent in the face of these accusations. He also defended the decentralization of the network. According to him, ” XRPL executes or defers transactions during consensus cycles, and if an honest node detects that a validator is doing bad things, it ignores it. ”
Supporters and critics of XRP continue to fuel the debate over its centralization despite the arguments being made. The question of governance and the nature of the Ripple blockchain raises important issues. Thus, it is legitimate to wonder if Ripple is really decentralized. This debate had already surfaced last October when the “maximalist” Max Keizer expressed his doubts about the centralization of Ripple.
Receive a digest of news in the world of cryptocurrencies by subscribing to our new service of daily and weekly so you don’t miss any of the essential Tremplin.io!
