According to U.Today, Justin Bons, a prominent cryptocurrency analyst, has recently stirred up a debate by asserting that Cardano (ADA) is highly centralized. Bons argued that the control mechanisms within Cardano's protocol give Input Output Global (IOG) an excessive amount of power. He pointed out that the 'genesis keys' in Cardano allow IOG to unilaterally change protocol rules without needing a hard fork, a process that could potentially stop the chain or alter key parameters without widespread agreement. Bons emphasized that IOG holds five of the seven genesis keys, a situation he believes compromises Cardano's decentralization.
Bons also criticized the decision made during the Shelley update in 2020, which he believes further consolidated this control, describing it as an unprecedented level of centralization for a blockchain. The Cardano community was quick to respond to Bons's claims. The Chief Technology Officer of Sundae Labs, a notable Cardano-based decentralized exchange, refuted Bons's assertions. He clarified that the genesis keys cannot arbitrarily change protocol rules; instead, they can only indicate when node operators should adopt new rules. He stressed that any significant protocol change still necessitates the participation and consensus of the stake pool operators, who are independent entities running Cardano nodes.
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, further supported the community's defense by sharing the CTO’s detailed explanation. Another response clarified that genesis keys are intended to enable smooth upgrades and cannot be used to censor transactions or misappropriate funds. It also pointed out that these keys are set to be replaced by a more decentralized governance model as part of the Voltaire upgrade.
Despite the intense debate, Bons acknowledged the community’s efforts towards decentralization and expressed optimism about Cardano's future governance improvements. However, he maintained his view that the current mechanism is too centralized and requires immediate reform.
