- Messari researcher Ryan Watkins has dismissed Binance Smart Chain as a centralized Ethereum copycat
- Watkins dismissed BNB’s token performance as a distraction from the nature of the BSC protocol
- He also said that BSC’s success was down to Binance’s marketing and profile in the space
Messari researcher Ryan Watkins has laid into Binance Smart Chain (BSC), saying that it is nothing but “an Ethereum fork with a centralized validator set.” In a tweet thread posted after BNB token raced to $585 and CAKE approached $30, Watkins said that the tokens associated with such protocols were fine for making money on but that the protocols themselves cannot be considered innovative as they are “still copycats”. However, users might have the final say on this argument.
Price action will cause people to believe anything.
I don’t care how high BNB or CAKE go, it won’t change that they’re still copycats.
It’s one thing to view these assets as a way to make money, it’s another to view them as innovations that push this industry forward.
— Ryan Watkins (@RyanWatkins_) April 12, 2021
BSC and PancakeSwap are “Copycats”
BSC launched in September 2020 and with its fast transaction time, almost 100% trade success rate, and massively reduced transaction fee compared to Ethereum-based exchanges has threatened to overhaul the latter in terms of users. However, those who consider decentralization the key factor in the crypto space have been dismissive of BSC given its centralized nature, and Watkins has taken this up a notch with today’s tweet thread.
Watkins dismissed the recent BNB and CAKE price action, stating that “price action will cause people to believe anything” but that BSC and PancakeSwap are “still copycats”, explaining that there was nothing special behind their swift ascendancy:
“The reason why BSC is faster and more scalable is not because of some magical technological innovation. No, it’s instead the magic of centralization. BSC is an Ethereum fork with a centralized validator set. That’s it. Nothing more.”
Users Will Have the Final Say
Watkins did have some backhanded praise for Binance however, saying that their “incredible reach and influence” has allowed them to “funnel a boatload of new users in DeFi”, but countered this by saying that speed and scalability outside of Ethereum was available with projects like Solana.
Watkins went on to say that, “Every cycle people get hoodwinked by the latest centralized solution to all blockchains problems” and that influencers “pump these narratives so they can dump on naïve retail traders when it’s over.” In the case of Binance this may be a bit harsh (except when it comes to BSC tokens), and Watkins admits that “BSC will likely have a place in this industry for the foreseeable future.”
Watkins’ opinion echoes those of many in the space, but in a sector where adoption relies heavily on ease of use, BSC may well turn out to be more successful than the likes of Watkins can stomach.
