Ethereum developers and Andre Cronje reflect on the core of the encryption industry: complete Decentralization is not possible, filled with short-term speculation is discouraging

Ethereum developers @pcaversaccio and Yearn Finance, as well as Sonic Labs founder Andre Cronje, revealed the dilemma of the current Decentralization movement from both ideal and realistic perspectives on Twitter on 12/22. The two expressed that excessive reliance on compliance and short-term interests has gradually led the encryption industry to deviate from its original intention of challenging the world, and has also left many developers in a dilemma. Should they adhere to Decentralization, or compromise with reality? In the end, they bluntly stated that the cryptocurrency world is experiencing a soul crisis in 2024.

The soul's choice of continuing to challenge the system or compromising with reality

Reflections by @pcaversaccio directly address the core issues of the encryption industry in 2024:

Procrastination of Decentralization: He believes that Layer 2 technology should have originally promoted Decentralization, but conservative designs like training wheels on a bicycle have become excuses for not progressing. Many transitional designs that still rely on centralization, such as verification and management mechanisms, are considered temporary, but in reality, they slow down the development of complete Decentralization.

Regulatory Pressure: KYC is everywhere, and the acceptance of developers and users disappoints him.

Lack of innovation passion: Many blockchain applications are either gambling or speculation, deviating from the original intention and principles of changing the world. It criticizes that most of the current encryption industry has lost its passion, followed by chasing short-term trends, and forgetting the mission of challenging the system. He urged, "Don't become a puppet who only pursues short-term speculation."

@pcaversaccio opens the chaos of the encryption industry. Developers are in a dilemma.

As the founder of Yearn Finance and Sonic Labs, Andre Cronje delves deep into the current plight from a developer's perspective:

The challenge of complete Decentralization: Cronje shared that past projects such as Solidity, which fully adhered to the principle of Decentralization, lacked the ability to upgrade and control access, but this almost 'perfect' code and design are prone to failure due to code vulnerabilities and irrational user behavior, making it almost impossible to achieve complete Decentralization.

Changes in user demand: Cronje pointed out that users are increasingly not understanding the meaning of Decentralization and are no longer pursuing immutable code. They are more concerned about the team behind and the product direction, hoping to find someone responsible when there is a problem.

Regulatory Shadow: Despite Cronje's avoidance of fundraising, use of utility tokens, and lack of establishment of entities in the project, he still spent nearly two years grappling with the SEC, a process that was inefficient and arduous.

Cronje expressed helplessness: "Developers have only two choices, either stick to immutability and decentralization, but bear all responsibilities and regulatory pressures; or compromise and obtain a license, retain access control, and continuously optimize the product." Cronje admitted that reality has made the second option a more acceptable path.

Andre Cronje explains the plight of developers.

(Andre Cronje discusses Appchains: innovation or over-design?)

This article reflects on the core of the encryption industry by Ethereum developers and Andre Cronje: complete decentralization is impossible and the prevalence of short-term speculation is disheartening. It was first published on ChainNews ABMedia.