- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has refuted claims that he doesn’t support decentralized finance
- Some in the DeFi space claim that the popularity of Ethereum is hinged on DeFi
- Buterin disclosed that he supports DeFi projects provided they are truly decentralized
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has cleared that he isn’t anti-DeFi as Kain Warwick, the brain behind yield farming, claims. According to Warwick, DeFi is “the only thing propping up” the Ethereum blockchain but Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation aren’t doing enough to support the space. Buterin refuted the claims saying that he fully supports DeFi projects provided they are sustainable and “don’t sacrifice on the principles of […] decentralization,” indicating that some DeFi projects aren’t as decentralized as they market themselves.
Buterin is an “Incredible Person”
Appearg in a crypto show, Warwick said that Buterin has largely portrayed a neutral stance when it comes to DeFi, something that Warwick equated to being against decentralized finance. A stand he had previously expressed in an X post. Warwick, however, described Buterin as an “incredible person.”
If the only thing propping up your chain for the last five years is DeFi, and the best you can muster is begrudgingly tolerating it, you are anti-DeFi. I’m sorry but the default position should be absolutely falling over yourself to support and encourage it…
— kain (@kaiynne) August 7, 2024
Responding to the accusations in an X post, Buterin said that decentralized projects like DEXs are great and that he uses “them every week.” He, however, said he doesn’t “respect […] things whose attractiveness comes from some temporary source,” and which don’t have long-term viability.
The kinds of applications that I want to see are applications that are (i) useful in a sustainable way, and (ii) don’t sacrifice on the principles (permissionlessness, decentralization, etc)
I think DEXes are great, and I use them every week.
I think decentralized stablecoins…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 25, 2024
According to the Ethereum co-founder, the liquidity farming craze of 2021 wasn’t sustainable. He questioned how liquidity farming projects paid yields to investors if investors were just “parking” their coins.
Buterin noted that some DeFi projects have so “many centralization points” with some having backdoors that reduce decentralization.
“Purist” Criticism Emerges
Buterin’s views received support from the community with some saying that Buterin “is a purist who thinks much of our DeFi isn’t really DeFi,” due to its reliance on centralized entities like oracles.
I watched the recent SteadyLads episode with Kain and I have to admit I had no idea that vitamin and the EF dislike DeFi…
It almost feels hard to believe in a sense.
The overwhelming majority of ETH’s value comes from its use as collateral in DeFi, why on earth would you want…
— MilliΞ (@llamaonthebrink) August 24, 2024
Buterin’s response on anti-DeFi claims comes seven months after he said that decentralized social media platform Farcaster has a better shot at sustainability compared to Friend.tech.
With the Ethereum co-founder clearing his stand on DeFi, it’s to be seen whether DeFi projects will re-evaluate their decentralization metrics to honor the blockchain spirit.
