Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, has failed to address major threats to decentralization: lack of customer diversity, weak “social class” narrative, exodus of Bitcoin Core developers, and lack of censorship resistance. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) has managed to achieve a battle-tested level of decentralization, says investor and advisor Anthony Sassano.

Bitcoin (BTC) is less decentralized than Ethereum (ETH): Opinion

Bitcoin (BTC) appears less decentralized than Ethereum (ETH) as of late 2024, due to a variety of reasons. Long-term Ethereum (ETH) advocate Anthony Sassano shares seven observations to prove that the orange coin is losing the decentralization battle to the second cryptocurrency.

First of all, Bitcoin Core remains the only major software client for full Bitcoin (BTC) nodes, with no viable alternatives. The two largest mining pools, Foundry and AntPool, require KYC checks for participants, creating a potential central point.

Home Bitcoin (BTC) mining has also not been profitable for a very long time. Bitcoin's (BTC) Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism is seeing its centralization increase over time.

Within two or three halvings (equivalent to 8-12 years), Bitcoin (BTC) is set to become easier to attack as its security budget shrinks.

As previously covered by U.Today, analyst Justin Pons expects Bitcoin's (BTC) security budget to fall to critical levels by the years 2028-2032.

Bitcoin Core developers are leaving, presenting another centralization threat: Sassano says fewer than five of them are still active.

ETH/BTC is targeting lows again

Last but not least, Bitcoin (BTC) has been criticized for its weak “social class” as “digital gold” remains the only dominant narrative in the long term.

By contrast, Ethereum (ETH) has been able to oppose censorship, has implemented strong anti-centralization incentives, and is backed by over 170 developers for its ecosystem. Through “backdoor issuance,” Ether tokens also look healthier for Sassano.

The speaker also concluded that its fragmented social class is a platform for free discussion, making Ethereum (ETH) more flexible and diversified.

In this cycle, Ethereum (ETH) is often criticized for its poor price performance against Bitcoin (BTC). On November 21, it reached a multi-year low of around 0.032 BTC per ETH, but has rebounded slightly to 0.04.

By press time, the ETH/BTC price is at 0.036.