**Corporate-Controlled Blockchains Face an Uncertain Future, Says StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson**
Blockchains created and controlled by corporations are unlikely to survive in the long term, according to Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder and CEO of blockchain company StarkWare. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Ben-Sasson doubled down on his view that so-called “corporate chains” won’t last because they conflict with a fundamental principle of blockchain technology: the elimination of a central controlling entity.
> “The important element of blockchain is a system that gets rid of a central entity. It comes at a cost: A very complex technology that’s hard to build and hard to use. Even if we apply AI to create simplified UX, the tech under the hood is still very complex,” he explained.
### The Core Philosophy of Blockchain
Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, was designed to disrupt mainstream financial institutions and return financial power to individuals. This foundational idea may explain why some members of the crypto community remain skeptical of new blockchains launched by large corporations, such as Stripe’s recently announced layer-1 blockchain, Tempo.
### Corporations Will Likely Pull Back if User Adoption Is Low
Ben-Sasson emphasized that it is positive for corporations to want to adopt blockchain technology because it signals that blockchains are becoming less intimidating. He also agreed with an X user that corporate-owned chains might help drive short-term mainstream adoption.
However, his long-term prediction is less optimistic:
> “In a few years, the blockchains built by these companies will most likely be abandoned when they cause too big a headache from a technical point of view, and after users choose to avoid them because they aren’t attractive enough from a DeFi/self-custody/control-my-asset point of view.”
He further added:
> “Fast forward a few years: Corporate chains will end up with the complex tech but without the added value for users, which is no central entity to control them. At that point, these chains will lose the focus from corporates.”
### Community Divided on the Future of Corporate Blockchains
The conversation on X revealed a split among community members regarding the viability of corporate blockchains.
One user, under the handle Boluson, argued that most corporations don’t actually need a blockchain but feel pressured to adopt the technology out of fear of being left behind.
> “Not every project in Crypto needs to have blockchain, now everyone wants to build something around creating a blockchain,” they said.
Rob Masiello, CEO of Sova Labs—a company focused on building Bitcoin-native infrastructure—expressed a different perspective. He believes that corporate blockchains can be successful and useful for the companies that own and operate them.
> “Users just won’t have any way to participate in their upside. Base is an example,” Masiello noted.
Other users speculated that corporations might create blockchains only to eventually hand over control to native blockchain firms or acquire existing blockchains and scale them to serve their purposes.
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**Related:** [How Bitcoin’s Three Pillars Are About to Fix Money](#)
As the blockchain ecosystem continues to evolve, it remains to be seen whether corporate chains will find a sustainable role or ultimately give way to truly decentralized networks aligned with the original ethos of blockchain technology.
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