Larimer believes that the project will fall under the siege of regulators and offer no privacy. The developer says that he prefers to create tools that give power back to users.
In recent days, blockchain project developer Dan Larimer decided to resign as chief technology officer of Block.one. On December 31st, the executive retired from the company, which is in charge of the EOS project. At the time, he noted that he preferred “building technologies more resistant to censorship.”
Larimer explained on the HIVE blog the reasons why he left the company that he founded in 2017. He states that he is concerned about the regulatory pressure “on a technology that would free us from international banking cartels.”
According to the developer, the vision that Bitcoin has shown since its creation is fading. He states that the cryptocurrency was initially a functional medium of exchange without intermediaries, but the regulatory apparatus has captured the system. In this way, these entities are absorbing privacy and frustrating those who want to use the cryptocurrency without a regulated custodian. For that reason, “Bitcoin becomes just another financial asset.” He believes that the decentralization in the blockchain ecosystem is relative.
Given this situation, Larimer wonders “what would happen if EOS were part of this walled, centralized, and fully regulated garden of KYC users.” He answers himself by expressing his dissatisfaction with the project’s valuation methods. He finds them divorced from the technological and business fundamentals that sustain the world of cryptocurrencies. The former CTO of Block.one says that “regulators could capture BTC, EOS, and ETH, leading them to a total loss of privacy.” He believes that the best hope for a token to earn capital is to “maximize its utility as money.” Likewise, he considers that it “must comply with the regulations and work for the institutions to adopt it.”
Is EOS a Decentralized Project?
The collective governance model that EOS has adopted will make it a better currency, according to the developer. He also believes that the only way to make a profit is KYC accounts with smart contracts that the regulator has approved.
According to Larimer, Block.one can steer EOS down a more decentralized path if the community so chooses. However, he is not interested in “the whims of government regulators” limiting his innovation. He says that he will continue to create tools that give power back to people who prefer freedom to US dollars.
Dan Larimer suggests that EOS is currently not that decentralized, after months of criticism by the community. People question the initiative because it has a very centralized governance system.
In a rolling election, the community chooses the 21 block producers that EOS has by design. However, only the users who have the highest number of tokens have higher voting power. Therefore, their power to decide will be greater compared to that of the rest of the community. In May 2020, the Block.One team decided to actively participate in the voting and abandon its “silent” position. This made the project more complex so that it would provide a properly decentralized network.
By Alexander Salazar
