Thread by @mt_1466

Underneath all the songs, pandas, and memes, the #EthereumMerge is bittersweet.

5+ years of waiting, and it's finally here!... Only, it's not like I imagined.

A thread on the ugly/glass-half-empty side of the #Merge from a long-time $ETH bull...

It's going to be impossible to make my argument and not sound whiny or a buzzkill or ungrateful or simply FUDing. That's not my intention. But like with everything, the merge comes with a cost.

However, lemme stress, this is a HUGE accomplishment. Kudos to all the devs involved

Backing up a bit.... blockchains are ONLY worth a damn if they are permissionless, neutral, secure, & censorship-resistant.

That's the truth. If you don't have those, you simply have a corruptible database.

And 99% of the thousands of projects out there don't offer these traits

Notice how I didn't say energy use. It's IRRELEVANT.

There are 1000s of PoS "green" chains. And they are all centralized, insecure POS (this one stands for pieces of shit!)

#PoW and #PoS are simply different ways of trying to secure a blockchain.

It's SECURITY you're after.

We're trying to upend the global financial system for f*cks sake!

You know, the one run by out-of-touch elites that have left ~3B people behind, exacerbates bubbles/recessions, & weaponizes $ to oppress its citizens

If that takes "0.2%" of global energy, I'll make that trade

#ETH folks celebrating "reducing the world's energy consumption by 0.2%" (which is patently false)

#BTC feeling threatened & disparaging #PoS to justify #PoW

Zoom the f*ck out

Keep your eyes on the prize people!
- permissionless
- neutral
- security
-censorship-resistance

The global "good" that could come from creating a neutral, secure, censorship-resistant alternative financial layer is incomprehensible.

So, stop taking victory laps over your TRIVIAL energy reduction when it potentially comes at the cost of censorship-resistance! @_Checkmatey_

#Ethereum was one of the few #cryptos that was
- permissionless
- neutral
- secure
- censorship-resistant

But is less so today. It just is....

Staking diversity is abysmal. It's no secret but CEXs and Lido present a huge attack surface for ETH. @0x_illuminati

Security and decentralization are tough to quantify in crypto land

Trust me, I've tried (image)

And no, @aeyakovenko, Nakamoto Coefficient ain't it.

$ETH is arguably more secure today in a crypto-economic sense, but it is drastically more susceptible to regulatory capture.

Given that, is #Ethereum more secure today than it was yesterday? I'd say no.

And yes, I'm familiar with PBS and social slashing and everything else.

But #ETH is pretty vulnerable for the near future should this administration decide to get frisky. @laurashin

That's why I think withdrawals should be prioritized ASAP. I've seen the "6-12 months post merge" estimates (and we know how ETH timelines go).

I think everything should be shirked to enable withdrawals ASAP. This is our best defense to CEX centralization @dannyryan @TimBeiko

Enable people to withdraw and stake elsewhere. I know I will.

I'm guilty of staking some ETH on several CEXS as well as Lido bc I was "diversifying" my staking risk. I didn't want all my eggs in one basket.

Now, I want them out of there & into a home staking setup! @superphiz

We are locked into a sh*tty situation currently. What's more important?

Getting rollup transactions from $0.05 to $0.02 in the depths of a bear market. @apolynya

Or freeing up 12% of the supply and possibly eliminating THE single attack vector on the network?

Anyways, just to be clear, everything is relative.

#ETH isn't dead.
It hasn't "jumped the shark."
It's still the top smart contract chain.
It's still more secure than any chain other than #BTC.

I'm just hoping this is one step back for, ultimately, a million steps forward!

@MartyBent @PrestonPysh