Direct from the desk of Dane Williams.
MetaMask can block users from using their front-end, but NOT from ever accessing their wallets on the Ethereum network itself.
So today started off like any other weekday.
Woke up, put some pants on (sometimes forget this step - lol jokes) and took doggo for a walk to get some coffee.
I then sat down at my desk and took a look at the news.
Today the headline that greeted me was: MetaMask blocks users from Ethereum.
Fuck, shit, fuck, what?!
So crypto is decentralised and permissionless…
…unless you’re from a warzone?
No, this is not the case.
While it’s frustrating that the media makes it sound like MetaMask has the power to ban specific users from ever accessing their Ethereum wallet, this is not the case.
Quite simply, this is not how dApps that connect to and run on decentralised blockchains, work.
They do not have this power.
You see MetaMask is nothing more than a front-end that people have the choice of using, in order to connect to the Ethereum blockchain.
A choice they make because it makes things easy.
I’m sure most of us here use and love MetaMask for this reason.
But MetaMask does not house your crypto.
It is nothing more than an Ethereum gateway or front-end, built by a US-based blockchain company called ConsenSys.
And being a centralised company based in the US, they have to comply with the laws set out by the government in this jurisdiction.
This includes all of the latest economic sanctions imposed on Russia and other parts of this fucked up world we live in.
If they don’t, their offices will literally be raided by the police and their leadership team put in jail.
They can’t just say no because we’re decentralised.
Spoiler alert: They’re not.
They’re just a regular company so complied.
So while it’s unfortunate that people trying to access MetaMask using an IP from the Russian warzone, Iran (or for some reason Venezuela??) no longer can, the negative to crypt itself is all just a media beat up.
Users’ funds are safe on the Ethereum blockchain and people in these banned jurisdictions can still technically access them without permission, via another front-end.
As long as the blockchain sitting at the base layer is decentralised, you’re all good.
While I wouldn’t say that Ethereum is the most decentralised blockchain in the world, for all intensive purposes right now, it is decentralised enough for people in warzones to freely access and move their funds.
Yes this move by the US-based company who built and maintains MetaMask is a pain in the arse.
But this is just the natural evolution of Web3 from centrally structured companies based in heavily regulated jurisdictions, to decentralised and community run projects with nobody to come after.
On Hive we understand the concept of using different front-ends to access data stored on the blockchain.
But most, even on Ethereum, seemingly haven’t grasped this concept.
Now, the short term pain of people in those blocked jurisdictions will be real.
I don’t want to diminish the fucked up shit that they’re going through.
But from a tech point of view, the long term gain of showing the need for community driven projects to step in and fill the front-end void, is a long-term win for everyone.
Especially those facing genuine hardships through no fault of their own.
This is a good thing.
Best of probabilities to you.