Moving value across blockchains is now dominated by centralized intermediaries, contradicting crypto’s decentralization claims. Casper Network’s Michael Steuer blames industry approach to interoperability and user experience. Users must navigate complex infrastructure, bridges, and fees to move assets between chains, relying on a few intermediaries. Traditional payment systems handle routing and settlement in the background, unlike the high-stake, error-prone nature of crypto transactions. Bridges are crucial and vulnerable in the crypto stack, often targeted by hackers for large losses.

Centralized gatekeepers like Chainlink control interoperability, deciding which protocols are enabled and who has access. Concentration of power limits participation and resembles the centralized chokepoints that crypto aims to avoid. Technical challenges in implementing native interoperability have led to the rise of messaging and verification systems. Fragmented interoperability fuels tribalism as users are forced to choose sides based on network, wallet, and asset support.

Tribalism in crypto results from users committing to specific networks to participate, leading to loyalty and competition among networks. Users are drawn to closed ecosystems rather than a universal system, hindering interoperability. Until blockchains can interact seamlessly without exposing users to networks, wallets, and bridges, the industry will perpetuate fragmentation. Decentralization exists at the protocol level, but coordination and power concentrate elsewhere, reinforcing centralized infrastructure and tribal divisions.

Read more at Cointelegraph: Crypto’s Decentralization Falls Apart at Interoperability: Casper CTO