ambcrypto.com
Ethereum [ETH], the leading smart contract platform and the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was in the limelight with several influencers discussing Ethereum’s status as a blockchain, on Twitter. This was triggered when Ryan Sean Adams, Founder of Mythos, remarked “Ethereum, not blockchain,” in response to Anthony Pompliano’s “Bitcoin, not blockchain.”
This was followed by Udi Wertheimer, a well-known Bitcoiner stating that this was “probably a tongue-in-cheek play on ‘bitcoin, not blockchain, but reveals an underlying misconception.” He went to state,
“While “bitcoin” is a digital asset, “ethereum” isn’t, it’s literally the name of a blockchain. The asset there is “ether”, and most people never heard of it.”
He further stated,
“When we say ‘bitcoin, not blockchain’, we mean that like ‘gold, not chemistry’. While chemistry is an exciting field, the idea that chemistry will revolutionize money is silly. But the asset might do that. ‘Ethereum, not blockchain’ is like saying ‘Dow Chemical, not chemistry'”
Further, WhalePanda joined in on the topic, stating that Ryan was pointing that a blockchain cannot be a “real blockchain” without immutability, citing the example of Ethereum.
Notably, Ethereum has been in the limelight several times because of concerns surrounding its immutability. The main reason behind this was the DAO hard fork, which resulted in the two chains: Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. The decision of a hard fork, in order to prevent the loss of around $50 million, was believed to be against the principle “Code is Law,” by several members in the community, including some in Ethereum community.
To WhalePanda’s remark, Andrew, a cyber security specialist, said,
By your own definition censoring the value overflow transactions via a socially coordinated soft fork is also a “loss of immutability”…
— Andrew (@cyber_hokie) May 1, 2019