key takeaways
- Hetzner, a web hosting service that hosts about 10% of Ethereum nodes, has warned crypto users against its services.
- A representative of the company told Crypto Briefing that it has an anti-crypto stance because some cryptocurrencies cause problems.
- Hetzner’s warning has prompted a backlash within the Ethereum community.
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About 10% of Ethereum nodes today use Hetzner’s service.
Don’t Use Us for Crypto, Hetzner Warns
Ethereum’s reliance on centralized web hosting services has once again come under scrutiny in the crypto community.
This time, the discussion centers on Hetzner, a web hosting service that currently takes care of about 16% of remote Ethereum nodes (as 61% of the nodes are hosted remotely, which equates to about 9.76% of all Ethereum nodes). Is). Hetzner’s August 23 Reddit post that reappears on twitter TODAY warned Ethereum users against using its service for crypto-related activities.
I know this is off topic, but if there are Hetzner customers using Ethereum they should please read this: https://t.co/Lhlv3KAtUZ –Katie
— Hetzner (@Hetzner_Online) 26 August 2022
,If there are Hetzner customers using Ethereum, they should please read this,” Hetzner tweeted Today’s post with a link. In the post, Hetzner confirmed that there is a complete ban on crypto. read an excerpt:
,It is not allowed to use our products for any mining-related application, not even remotely related. This also includes Ethereum. This includes proof of stake and proof of work and related applications. This includes trading… even if you run just one node, we consider it a violation of our TOS.”
The post added that the company was “aware that Hetzner currently has a number of Ethereum users.” This prompted a number of reactions from Hetzner users, some of whom questioned the ban and flagged the company’s mention of a mining ban.
“Given that 16% of Ethereum PoW nodes are running on your platform but these are being migrated to PoS, can you explain to your customers why you don’t actually allow this in your terms and conditions? ?” A posting under drhexc wrote.
“I don’t think whoever is operating your account here, maybe Katie, here on reddit, what exactly mining is and I wanted to try and explain, first of all, I do zero mining using hatter. In fact, Hetzner would not provide any meaningful competitive advantage for mining,” another added, going by Fatat.
decentralization of ethereum
As Hetzner is a web hosting service, it does not accommodate crypto miners, who use raw computing power to mine cryptocurrencies such as ETH and BTC. However, it is popular among node operators.
Several Twitter users in the Ethereum community also criticized Hetzner over his policy. ,Kudos to be given where it’s due.” wrote Lefteris Karapetsus, the founder of Rotki. ,@Hetzner_Online It takes more effort to push us towards decentralization than most projects in this area. ,
crypto briefing We reached out to Hetzner to request clarification on its anti-crypto policy, and a sales representative said that it restricts Ethereum and other crypto activity because some tokens pose problems. “If you haven’t received a notice from the company, stay with us,” he said.
Ethereum’s reliance on services such as Hetzner and Amazon Web Services has been the subject of intense debate in the past, with some arguing that the decentralization of the network suffers the consequences. Today’s development comes after weeks of discussion over the network’s ability to remain censorship resistant following Treasury’s Tornado Cash ban. Opponents say Ethereum will be at risk of being attacked once the “merge” of proof-of-stake is completed next month. Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin took note of the issue, Saying that it would consider compliance with the regulatory ban as an attack on the network.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this article owns ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.