Eli Ben Sasson, co-founder and CEO of blockchain company StarkWare, said corporate-created and managed blockchains will eventually disappear because users don’t want chains managed by a central authority.
Ben Sasson said in a post on X on Monday that he further strengthens his opinion that “corp” chains will not survive because they are not consistent with the core concept of blockchain, which is that they need to be “de-centered.”
“A key element of a blockchain is a system that eliminates a central entity, which is costly. It is a very complex technology, difficult to build and difficult to use. Even if you apply AA to create a simplified UX, the technology inside is still very complex,” he said, presumably referring to account abstraction, a technology that makes wallets smarter and easier to use.
Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, was designed to disrupt mainstream financial institutions and return economic power to individuals.
This may be why some members of the cryptocurrency community are concerned about new blockchains such as Stripe’s new Layer 1, Tempo.
Companies will withdraw if user usage rate is low.
Ultimately, Ben Sasson said it’s great that companies want to adopt blockchain technology because it means “blockchain isn’t this scary anymore.”
In response to a question from an
However, he predicts that within a few years, the blockchains built by these companies will most likely be abandoned if they become “too big of a headache from a technical standpoint” and after users choose to avoid blockchains because they are not attractive enough “from a DeFi/self-custody/asset management standpoint.”
“Fast forward a few years, and enterprise chains will end up with complex technology, but no added value for users, and will no longer be central to managing the chain. At that point, these chains will lose focus from enterprises.”
Community divided over the future of enterprise blockchain
Meanwhile, an X user named Bolson argued that most businesses don’t need blockchain. They simply feel pressured to adopt the technology out of fear of being left behind.
“Not all projects in Crypto require blockchain. Nowadays everyone wants to build something around blockchain creation,” they said.
Rob Masiello, CEO of Sova Labs, a company focused on building Bitcoin-native infrastructure, said he believes co-opchains will be successful and beneficial to the companies that own and operate them.
“Users will have no way to participate in their interests at all, and Base is an example of that,” he said.
Other users speculated that companies might create blockchains and then hand over control to native companies, or consider acquiring existing blockchains to scale up for their purposes.
