EOS Decentralization Questioned as Block Producers Freeze Accounts

Article written by: Jamie Redman

The decision made by EOS block producers brings a lot of questions to the table again in regard to whether or not a public blockchain that has centralized nodes with freezing powers can truly be considered a permissionless blockchain. On June 17, the 21 EOS block producers (BP) had agreed unanimously to freeze several accounts on the EOS blockchain that were allegedly stolen. According to the BP members and the EOS911 (a system that shows if EOS keys were compromised), malicious actors using phishing attacks and other forms of social engineering were able to steal people’s keys. Seven accounts have been frozen even though there seems to be more complaints of compromised keys to hand.

What do you think about the EOS block producers’ ability to blacklist and freeze accounts?