Ethereum's Whispered Woes and Crypto's Influencers—For Better or Worse?

A censorship issue plagues blockchains, notably within the Ethereum network, where 72% of blocks are crafted by validators filtering transactions linked to a sanctioned program known as Tornado Cash.

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In this installment of "The Protocol," hosts Brad Keoun, the founding editor of The Protocol Newsletter, and tech journalists Sam Kessler and Margaux Nijkerk,  explore the following stories:

• Censorship on Ethereum is Becoming a Problem

Four of the five biggest "block builders" on Ethereum are excluding transactions sanctioned by the U.S. government, data shows.

• Bitcoin Mining: CENSORSHIP OR 'SPAM FILTERING?'

Opinions are divided in the Bitcoin community over the efforts by a new mining pool called Ocean, guided by the feisty developer Luke Dashjr and backed by Block Inc.'s Jack Dorsey, to weed out NFT-like transactions the project characterizes as "spam."

• Columbia CryptoEconomics (CCE) Workshop 2023

This two-day workshop brings together practitioners, researchers, and academics to discuss challenges, recent progress, and opportunities in the economics of blockchain protocols.

PROTOCOL VILLAGE SEGMENT  

CoinDesk’s Most Influential of 2023 

Fifty people who defined the year in crypto.

EPISODE LINKS |  

Ethereum's 'Censorship' Problem Is Getting Worse

Bitcoin Inscriptions Divide BTC Community Amid Network Congestion, but Are 'Unstoppable' 

Jack Dorsey Aims to Create Anti-Censorship Bitcoin Mining Pool With New Startup 

Hot from Columbia University Crypto Economics

Most Influential 2023 by CoinDesk 

 

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