Part II on why I don't like this: Because @convergeonchain is a bank. === A permissioned validator L1 is just a bank with extra steps. The core innovation of blockchains is inverting the relationship between banks and servers: - TradFi: Every bank maintains a ledger on a private, siloed server - Blockchain: A single shared ledger, where every bank can have an account on the same ledger as other banks. The point of blockchains is to produce a single, shared server in the cloud. Now, the competition to become the most-used blockchain is incredibly high, which why you see incredible competition in the L1 wars. ... in public, permissionless, open L1s. ===== In my original critique of Converge, @HadickM explained to me that "Permissioned validators is an unfortunate truth of bringing more institutional counterparties on chain - we hear it across verticals." Understood. Public, permissionless ecosystems make financial institutions uncomfortable. They are used to having control, and giving up control makes them weary. For compliance reasons... sure. I don't care. They should be uncomfortable. That's the power that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and public blockchains are taking away from them. The IBM Hyperledger "Blockchain, not Bitcoin" era proved to be a dead end - it was discovered that the value of blockchains were in the public & open blockchains, not the private ones. "This is what it takes to get institutions onchain" is a shit argument. @BlackRock already has 1.2B in permissioned tokenized T-Bills on Ethereum. @coinbase just released Verified Pools, which is a Uniswap pool where all LPs are KYC'd. You cannot tell me that a permissioned validator L1 unlocks anything for institutions that can't also be coded in the app layer. The name "Converge" is incredibly ironic, because Converge is actually diverging from the core ethos of blockchains. "Diverge assets from public ledgers, and put them on our privately verified L1." - @convergeonchain No fucking thank you. You are a bank. If I put my money on your chain, I am a subject to your permissioned validator set. I am subject to no one. That is why I am here. Code, not Kings Protocols, not People