Charles Hoskinson debates with Daniel Larimer

Yesterday there was a heated debate on Twitter about the Cardano (ADA) blockchain between Charles Hoskinson and Daniel Larimer.

Check out my latest blog and this is an honest question: "Is Cardano (ADA) Shelley Mainnet Overrated?" #Bitcoin #Binance #BNB #Coinbase #Ethereum #DPoS #Blockchain #Crypto #Mainnet #tech #Kucoin #Huobi #BitMax #overrated #ADA #Cardano #Shelley👇#BTC #ETHhttps://t.co/L8gS35Npnr

— crypto_guy (@crypto_spaced) August 1, 2020

More specifically, the topic of discussion was the Cardano consensus system and whether it is accurate to compare it to a DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake) system or not.

The topic was then also addressed by Daniel Larimer who wanted to express his opinion on the subject.

Shelley triggered the debate between Daniel Larimer Charles Hoskinson

The discussion with Larimer was triggered by an article that talked about the Shelley mainnet as an overrated update and this obviously annoyed Charles Hoskinson who said that Ouroboros is not a DPoS protocol but something completely different.

We aren't DPoS. Ouroboros is a completely new and novel protocol

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) August 1, 2020

The Cardano blockchain, in fact, does not use a PoW (Proof of Work) system but a type of PoS (Proof of Stake) system called Ouroboros.

And according to Hoskinson, it is not a DPoS system.

The difference would be that Ouroboros divides time slots into different epochs; each epoch is led by an elected leader, who is responsible for creating and confirming the blocks. Transactions are approved by the “input endorsers” who are elected according to the stake.

In the various pools, users can stake their ADA to actively participate in blockchain decisions and also gain an advantage from pools offering rewards. 

This system actually recalls the operation of DPoS as users can delegate their tokens to these pools.

The author of the post examines this system, which, in everyone’s eyes, is actually a sort of DPoS, but with a different name. The same author cites Daniel Larimer as he claimed some time ago that Cardano was based on a DPoS system.

And this is where Hoskinson criticized Larimer because he claimed that the protocol did not work and that Ouroboros is a DPoS.

Daniel Larimer, CTO of Block.one, intervened shortly after repeating that with the latest release of Cardano, Shelley, there is no real decentralization but only an increase in decisions and costs to operate the system.

You’re latest release aims for 1000 pools, but it is nothing but illusion of decentralization. The more decision makers/nodes the more costly it is to operate. Pareto undermines everything.

— Daniel Larimer (@bytemaster7) August 2, 2020

Moreover, Larimer explained that the Pareto principle continues to apply: only a small part actually controls the net, because if it is true that a larger amount put in stake constitutes a greater weight in the voting, this means that small holders do not have equal voting rights.

The discussion ended as it had begun, with two conflicting opinions, also because fundamentally it is only a definition.