Ray Youssef, former founder of Paxful, believes that Ethereum, the world’s largest smart contract platform, is a “drag” on Bitcoin.
Ethereum Slowing Down Bitcoin?
In his May 21 post, it’s clear that the former CEO is critical of Ethereum, viewing it as a hindrance and obstacle to Bitcoin’s progress.
Youssef broke with his opinion, seemingly suggesting that Ethereum’s impact has been largely negative, slowing down the advancement of crypto technology.
However, he expressed gratitude for the recent slowdown following last year’s crypto winter. In his assessment, the collapse in asset prices since late 2021 slowed activity, allowing the crypto industry to strategize, adapt, and prepare for a new phase of innovation.
Youssef’s tweet suggests that Ethereum’s role has been to hinder Bitcoin’s growth rather than promote it. By calling Ethereum a “drag” on Bitcoin, he implies that Ethereum is not living up to its potential and is hindering Bitcoin’s progress.
Even so, Youssef seemed to say that the time spent dealing with Ethereum’s limitations allowed the industry to assess its shortcomings and build a solid foundation. He stressed the importance of the recent lull, saying the industry “needs time to figure things out and get the pieces working” before moving forward.
Achieving what Ethereum failed to achieve
As the former CEO slammed Ethereum, he revealed that he is working on a project called CivKit that will achieve what Ethereum failed to achieve.
He also compared himself to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, saying his involvement in the CivKit project was like “Vitalik on a robot.”
This comment gives the impression that his project will bring about major improvements in cryptography, adding features that could be superior to what Ethereum has achieved so far.
When he was the CEO of crypto peer-to-peer trading platform Paxful, the portal delisted Ethereum after the network switched to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm.
Paxful mentioned the issue of centralization, as the network now relies on validators, who stake their tokens for the chance to validate transactions and add them to blocks.
The platform also cited the number of scams orchestrated on the Ethereum network. As a means of protecting its users from scams, the platform said they are delisting ETH.
Youssef has been a staunch supporter of Bitcoin. On May 18, he said, for example, that the United States’ “Operation Choke Point” would crash the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets. Still, the former CEO remained optimistic, saying that without the token, the country “has no future.”
