Some crypto community members are accusing Ripple, the company behind XRP, of falsely proclaiming that its native token XRP is decentralized and permissionless. Justin Bons, founder of Cyber Capital, claims to have found a “smoking gun” that proves Ripple has de facto control over the entire network.
Bons pointed out that XRP’s consensus algorithm, Unique Node Lists (UNLs), is based on a list of trusted nodes that centralized parties, including the Ripple Foundation release. Nodes not on these lists are untrusted and do not participate in consensus.
However, the researcher noted that while UNLs can be modified by users, a user can get kicked off if there is insufficient overlap with the rest of the network. He concluded that “XRP is not trustless,” adding that choosing who to trust is not the same as trustlessness.
2/25) XRPs consensus is based on UNLs (Unique Node Lists)Literal lists of trusted nodes released by centralized parties, including the foundation…Nodes not on this list are untrusted & do not participate in consensusHowever, users can modify the UNL, choosing who to trust— Justin Bons (@Justin_Bons) May 6, 2023
Bons’ claims have been met with mixed reactions from the XRP community. Matt Hamilton, a former core developer at Ripple, commented:
We have been over this many times already. Each node is...
Images of the Whitegate fuel protests earlier this month were altered to make it appear gardaí were violent towards protesters. The AI-doctored images were shared widely online, including by inter...