Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz has commented on negative perceptions of XRP's centralization, clarifying governance principles in public blockchains.
Response to Centralization Allegations
Amid rising allegations of XRP's centralization, David Schwartz rebutted comparisons between XRP's market capitalization and BlackRock. He stated that the notion of XRP as a centralized venture project is inaccurate and overlooks the governance mechanisms present in public blockchains.
Governance Flexibility and Forks
Schwartz explained that disputes over blockchain governance often lead to forks, providing communities a chance to adopt different rules. He indicated that this phenomenon is common among all public blockchains. He mentioned, > "This is true of every public layer one blockchain. Any group of participants could change the rules to allow censorship by considering invalid all transactions that violate their censorship rules." However, he warned that forks do not always bring the expected benefits, as market forces typically channel value and user activity to a single chain, leaving the other weak.
Practical Limits of Decentralization
Schwartz also emphasized that decentralized systems can approve harmful rule changes if a sufficient majority supports such decisions. He noted that the authority over protection against provocative updates is entirely communal, and outcomes reflect mass agreement rather than guarantees of positive development.
Schwartz's remarks highlight that governance challenges are not unique to XRP but are common across all major blockchain networks. He also pointed out that decentralization does not guarantee immunity from negative changes.
