Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reminded us that cryptocurrency is not just about trading digital assets, but about freedom and decentralization. His statement raises key questions about how cryptocurrency can promote freedom and privacy in the face of global surveillance issues.
Buterin’s comments highlight a disturbing trend in how individual rights could be violated by widespread surveillance measures. The fear that governments could abuse this ability to spy on their opponents or the public is not unfounded. The spirit of cryptocurrency is to serve as a countermeasure to this concentration of power, aiming to redistribute control to individuals.
However, the cryptocurrency space, including Ethereum, faces its own contradictions. Despite its decentralized ideals, most Ethereum transactions have encountered scrutiny, most notably compliance with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This contradiction has caused a great deal of repercussions in the cryptocurrency community and has even become a topic of discussion within the Ethereum community.
Additionally, Ethereum's move from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism has been hailed as a step toward greater efficiency and environmental sustainability. However, PoS does not necessarily lead to more decentralization. In PoS, those who hold more tokens have greater influence, which can lead to the concentration of power, which goes against the basic principle of cryptocurrency to distribute power equally.