Ethereum’s Centralization Undermines Its Core Principles – Charles Hoskinson

Charles Hoskinson, the creator of Cardano (ADA), has sharply criticized the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, likening it to a “dictatorship.”

In a recent interview, he expressed concerns that Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, holds excessive power over the network’s guidelines, which contradicts the decentralized principles Ethereum purports to uphold.

Hoskinson pointed out that Cardano’s governance model, grounded in its Voltaire era, enables community involvement in decision-making, thus preventing power from being centralized in a single individual. He noted that by incorporating these elements, Cardano effectively avoids both the chaos seen in Bitcoin and the “dictatorship” of Ethereum, highlighting a balance between decentralization and cohesive governance.

He further questioned Ethereum’s reliance on Buterin, implying that the network’s future adaptability could be at risk without his influence. Hoskinson also commented on Ethereum’s strategic pivot from its initial plan to scale using sharding technology to its current focus on rollups and layer two solutions.

Although this shift has made short-term scaling more manageable, he warned of the emergence of “extractive layer two solutions” and a decline in Ethereum’s base layer activity and revenue.

Overall, Hoskinson’s comments reflect his view that Ethereum’s governance and future path are overly reliant on the vision of a single individual rather than being shaped by a decentralized community.