Does the Ethereum Merge lead to more censorship? As the event inexorably approaches, criticism from the industry is mounting. In this point, Ether’s new consensus mechanism has systemic weaknesses, but at this very moment, attempts at censorship are already taking place under Proof of Work. <\/p>\n
A blockchain thrives on its neutrality and inviolability. If it gives these up, its advantages over classic digital payment methods such as a bank transfer, PayPal, or a credit card are lost. <\/p>\n
The recently decided sanction by the Ethereum<\/a> protocol Tornado.Cash has further consequences. CoinPro reports<\/a> on the repercussions of state intervention for the repeated time<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the crypto scene, a discussion about the possible censorship of Ethereum by the Merge<\/a> has recently broken out. This changes ETH’s consensus mechanism from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake<\/a>. <\/p>\n Several well-known figures are now warning of negative side effects from the switch to PoS. Gabriel Shapiro, an analyst at Delphi Digital, believes that a strong censorship of Ether is inevitable soon. The developers are planning to implement the Merge as early as September 19. <\/p>\n The US validators (which also include the very powerful Coinbase<\/a>) will push for censorship at the protocol level.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Writes Shapiro on Twitter<\/a>. So far, censorship at the application level<\/a> has been considered most likely. This is easier to implement, but has nowhere near as negative an impact on a network as censorship at the protocol level. <\/p>\n