Just as the Ethereum ecosystem reaches its final stage in preparation for the long-awaited upgrade, The Merge, German cloud provider Hetzner reiterates its stance against allowing mining operations for both proof-of-stake (PoS) and proof-of-work (PoW) applications.
Hetzner, a centralized private cloud provider, weighed in on a discussion about running blockchain nodes, highlighting their terms of services that prohibit customers from using the services for cryptocurrency-related activities. Nevertheless, the Ethereum community perceived the revelation as a threat to the ecosystem, as Hetzner’s cloud services host nearly 16% of Ethereum nodesas it’s shown in the following.
In the crypto realm, reliance on centralized service providers has historically been perceived as a negative trait when it comes to long-term livelihood, and for good reason. Redditor u/Supermann questioned the anti-crypto policies set forth by the second largest Ethereum mainnet host, Hetzner. Clarifying the doubts and legal implications associated with the use of its services for activities related to cryptocurrenciesHetzner stated:
“The use of our products for any application related to mining, even remotely related, is not allowed. This includes Ethereum.”
The company also stated that the non-authorization extends to running nodes, mining and farming, plotting, blockchain data storage, and trading. While acknowledging the extensive use of their services to power Ethereum, Hetzner revealed that they “have been discussing internally how best to approach this issue.” As a warning to the community, Hetzner added
“If you, or any other potential customer, are unsure whether your use case violates our terms of use, please contact us.”
The latest revelation from German cloud service provider Hetzner shows the impact of the decision made by centralized entities on thriving cryptocurrency ecosystems.
Most of the Ethereum ecosystem currently runs on Amazon.com, which hosts 54% of the total Ethereum nodes. Some of the top cloud providers currently hosting Ethereum nodes are Oracle Cloud (4.1%), Alibaba (2.8%), and Google Cloud (2.7%).
The debates surrounding the Ethereum upgrade have unwittingly spurred numerous misconceptions about what it means for the future of the blockchain. The Cointelegraph report highlighted the top five misconceptions about the anticipated Ethereum upgrade.
Lower gas fees and faster transactions are the biggest rumors spreading through the ecosystem, which have been confirmed to be false. However, a later update, called the Shanghai update, will offer faster and cheaper transactions.
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