Decentralized Finance has exploded the past half year, and it has been exciting to be along for the ride. It's no secret that I am a big fan of the space, and part of the reason I brought my band @thetroublenotes to the $HIVE community back in 2017 (before Douchetin Sun's actions led toward the fork and creation of the Hive blockchain). And while we have the Ethereum network to thank for the early development of DeFi, we've also see the astronomical rise in gas prices and fees as a huge hinderance to progress. Many smaller traders are unable to participate in new projects that have not been listed on big centralized exchanges, simply because of the amount of capital required to use Uniswap or some other decentralized exchange. The past month, I've executed some trades that cost me nearly $100USD worth of gas, that's not sustainable! You couldn't scroll for more than a second in a trading group without someone complaining about gas prices, and I think there are more than a dozen trades I didn't make because I wanted to wait for lower mining fees...
For months it had seemed that Polkadot was the most likely competitor of Ethereum and that all of these massive DeFi projects were working towards $DOT migration the moment that the network launched and it was feasible, but then suddenly Binance Smart Chain stepped onto the scene. With transaction fees at a fraction of those on Ethereum, developers began to flock towards BSC and $BNB pumped beyond anything I could have imagined. Headed into last weekend felt like it was BSC's moment to shine.
And while I enjoyed all of the memes and the buzz, I began to think seriously about what a mass scale migration to BSC could mean. I came here for the decentralization. I believe in the future of Crypto and blockchain because of Decentralization, and is Binance not a central authority? In fact, the entire Binance Smart Chain is actually a centralized blockchain. Indeed it was created to solve a very real inefficiency that has taken far too long to be corrected by Ethereum (one could argue that the miners are possibly part of the reason for that inefficiency because of how much they are presently earning), but there is no doubt in my mind that with the emergence of BSC we are entering another existential crossroads in the space.
I'm in love with this community, and the reason is because of the clear stand that all of the people who fought against Tron Overlord took. People with a lot more at stake than I invested hundreds of thousands of their own capital to try and wrestle control of the blockchain and do everything within their power to ensure that he would not be able to centralize a blockchain with the vision of decentralized media at its very core. And while I do not think that CZ is the same character as Justin Sun, I do see the similarities in what is happening here.
I am currently working on the development team of a new DeFi project, and I spent a few hours of my time arguing with the rest of the team about whether or not we should have a BSC integration for our ecosystem. It makes economic sense and would be a short term play that would likely unlock millions in capital that could find its way into our community, but at what long-term cost? By strengthening BSC and giving Binance so much power, are we not leaving ourselves susceptible to a different kind of centralized economic system that would likely become a continuation of the fiat system? A handful of centralized players would have autonomy over the mechanics of our entire ecosystem and we would be at the mercy of their good graces.
I believe that the HIVE Engine will be an alternative to BSC. As the community continues to grow and more dApps are built here, developers will become more interested in building on this blockchain. I continue to speak with all of my contacts in the crypto world about what's being built here. I've already been able to convince our team to begin using HIVE as a replacement for Medium, and I feel strongly that it is only the beginning.
I believe that this blockchain and its history must continue to be told to the decentralized world, so that we can safely navigate the treacherous waters that lie ahead. Decentralization is not a given in the crypto world, it will have to be earned. We will need to remain diligent and not make moral sacrifices for short term gains and conveniences. After all, that's how we got ourselves into the fiat mess we created in the first place with the collapse of the Bretton Woods institutions.