YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, recently faced criticism after sharing an excerpt from Bitcoin: Beginner’s Guide by Benjamin Hart. The post, shared on Oct. 7 and later deleted, stirred reactions from Ethereum supporters, who found the information misleading.
Eric Balchunas Posts Excerpt About Ethereum’s AWS Dependency
The excerpt suggested that the U.S. government could shut down Ethereum by instructing Amazon Web Services (AWS) to disable its services. It highlighted Ethereum’s reliance on AWS, which critics saw as an oversimplification. This triggered strong responses from the crypto community.
According to data from Ethernodes, 28.4% of Ethereum nodes use AWS as a provider. While this represents a significant share, the majority of the network would remain unaffected if AWS stopped hosting Ethereum. Balchunas added his own comment, suggesting that Ether “isn’t as secure” as Bitcoin (BTC), which stirred the Ethereum community.
Ethereum Community Calls Out “Misinformation”
The excerpt and comment drew heavy criticism. Anthony Sassano, an Ethereum educator, was among those who reacted strongly. He called the claims in the excerpt “blatant misinformation” and criticized Eric Balchunas for sharing it. Sassano stated that Balchunas should be “ashamed” of spreading what he viewed as incorrect information.
Product manager at Consensys, Jimmy Ragosa, also criticized the excerpt, calling it “propaganda-ridden.” Both Sassano and Ragosa pointed out that the network’s reliance on AWS is not significant enough to pose a risk. The decentralized nature of Ethereum means it would continue functioning despite disruptions from individual service providers.
Claims About Vitalik Buterin and AWS Stir Reactions from Ethereum Community
The excerpt also made a speculative claim involving Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. It suggested that a rogue entity could kidnap Buterin to force him to hand over large amounts of Ether. The Ethereum community dismissed this as another unfounded claim, emphasizing that the blockchain is decentralized and not dependent on one individual.
James Seyffart, another Bloomberg analyst, humorously responded to Eric Balchunas’ post, anticipating the reactions. Balchunas, however, chose to delete the post, stating that he would leave up Bitcoin-related content but avoid engaging in the Ethereum debate.
Ethereum developers have been focusing on decentralizing the network even more. Recent initiatives encourage solo staking and lowering hardware requirements, aiming to minimize reliance on centralized service providers such as AWS.
