Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
December 03, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- Ever since its’
year-long, controversial ICO wrapped up this summer, EOS has not
exactly been free of controversy. On the contrary, there have been
multiple allegations of the network being centralized, even though
it has consistently promised true decentralization.
Today’s news on EOS is no
different. If you know anything about how this network is governed,
then you may already be aware of its’ 21 "block producers." If this
is not the case, rest assured that their roles are quite easy to
grasp. Overall, these 21 nodes vote on any proposed change to or
issue with the network. The overarching idea of why this promotes
decentralization is that they were voted into these positions by
all the network’s participating nodes.
At this point, we can circle back
to our reference to today’s news and explain why this might not be
such a decentralized form of governance after all. Before we jump
into this discussion, it is first important to understand the idea
that block producers also effectively mine EOS coins for all other
network nodes. This process, which is often called mining by proxy,
may be considered controversial because it involves network users
putting their faith in a third party that does not directly
represent the network’s interests. Even so, EOS depends on mining
by proxy at least, for now, to continue functioning
efficiently.
Last week, one particular block
producer posted on Medium in what appeared to be an attempt to
incentivize EOS users to gravitate towards it above others, as one
of these miners. While in general, this may not seem too
controversial, it becomes so once more of the relevant details are
known. If you are wondering what we mean by this, it is as simple
as the fact that Starteos, the producer in question, promised
anyone who signs up with them consistent profits. This, in and of
itself, is an abuse of elected power in any context. As is
suggested by Cointelegraph and other media personalities, this
appears to be blatant vote buying.
Against all odds, however, Starteos
has basically refrained from answering any of this criticism and
EOS has also managed to maintain a market cap of more than $2
billion. Since criticism of the network’s activities seems to be
showing no signs of slowing down, only time will tell if EOS
investors will ever take any of it seriously.
By: BGN Editorial Staff