When discussing PoS voting, Vitalik Buterin called a critic’s assertion an “unmitigated bare-faced falsehood.”
While some anticipate that the impending switch from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) would enable Ethereum to eventually exceed Bitcoin (BTC), others are using the occasion to make snide comments on Twitter, prompting a reaction from Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum.
Bitcoin user Nick Payton criticized “Proof of Stakers” in a tweet and claimed that the ability to vote to alter platform attributes demonstrates that PoS assets are securities.
Dear Proof of Stakers,
The fact that you can vote on something to change its properties is proof that it’s a security.
Love, Bitcoin
— Nick (@NickDPayton) July 11, 2022
In her response, Buterin called Payton’s ideas “an utter bare-faced falsehood.” Buterin claims that, like proof-of-work (PoW), PoS does not allow voting on protocol settings. Buterin also explained that nodes reject invalid blocks in both PoS and PoW.
Jimmy Song, a writer, criticized PoS last week and questioned the decentralization of the consensus method. Song claims that the mechanism doesn’t resolve the issue with the Byzantine generals. Song’s ideas were criticized by Buterin in a tweet:
Pro-tip: if there’s a long-established tradition of people debating A vs B based on deep arguments touching on math, economics and moral philosophy, and you come along saying “B is dumb because of a one-line technicality involving definitions”, you’re probably wrong. https://t.co/22N0OaHyz1
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 3, 2022
Charles Hoskinson, a co-founder of Ethereum and a supporter of PoS, offered his opinion as well, stating that Song’s tweet is “beyond understanding” for its “degree of stupidity.”
Decentralized finance researcher Vivek Raman, meanwhile, expressed support for the planned Merge. Raman claimed on Twitter that the switch to PoS has given Ethereum the economic foundation it needs to compete with Bitcoin for dominance in the crypto world.
Ethereum performed a critical Merge test on the Sepolia testnet earlier in July, moving the network closer to the switch to the PoS consensus mechanism. Even though there are some glitches, developers said they won’t postpone the Merge.
