Ethereum maximalists are actively trying to force Binance Smart Chain (BSC) into censoring its users by deploying highly insensitive and morally repugnant contracts on the rapidly-growing blockchain.
In what appears to be an incredibly desperate and tasteless attempt to get back at the competitor, they are now promoting the "TANKS OF TIENANMEN" token, exploiting those who laid down their lives for democracy in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Bankless co-founder David Hoffman called attention to the token in his tweet with a popcorn emoji, coming under fire for his effort to prompt it.
"This is not the ETH community I want to be a member of,” a member of the Ethereum community wrote. “Stooping to racism and culturally sensitive events is despicable and should not be tolerated. Two wrongs don't make a right, make sure ETH can scale,” another outraged Twitter user replied.
Popular YouTuber Lark Davis described the attack as “shocking.”
Still, there were those who praised “the brilliant move”:
"This is an absolutely evil - and brilliant - way to put pressure on Binance. Bravo,” ProgPOW author Kristy-Leigh Minehan tweeted.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has already commented on the “attack,” tweeting that it could be dealt with at the explorer level.
Scalability vs. decentralization
Over the past few weeks, Binance Smart Chain, a high-throughput platform that aims to bridge DeFi and CeFi, has emerged as an "Ethereum killer" because of its low transaction fees. In his viral tweet, CZ quips that Ethereum is only for the rich guys “who will soon be poor.”
However, Ethereum’s main selling point is supposed to be its presumed decentralization. The node operators that are in control of the BSC are essentially elected by Binance itself since it is the top holder of its native Binance Coin (BNB) token.
Yet, for DeFi speculators, centralization appears to be a reasonable trade-off for cheap fees, and “testing” the blockchain with insensitive content is ultimately futile.