Singapore, Thursday, October 03, 2024-Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden criticized Solana’s blockchain, calling it overly centralized during a virtual appearance at the Token 2049 conference in Singapore.
Snowden argued that Solana prioritizes speed and efficiency at the expense of decentralization, which could make the network vulnerable to disruption if governments targeted it.
Snowden described Solana as a network built without an “adversarial approach” and noted its association with “meme coins and scams.”
His comments stirred debate within the crypto community, particularly on Twitter (now X), where the clip has been viewed over 530,000 times.
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs and a strong Solana advocate, challenged Snowden’s claims, asking for evidence of vulnerabilities in Solana’s system. Mumtaz stated that Solana’s architecture, including thousands of full nodes worldwide, is resilient to attacks.
However, he acknowledged that more established networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum are more decentralized.
Solana’s association with the disgraced FTX exchange and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried has previously drawn criticism.
Snowden’s remarks, Solana developers continue to push back, focusing on upcoming innovations like the Firedancer validator client aimed at improving the network’s resilience.
