StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson has warned that blockchains built and controlled by corporations — dubbed “corpo chains” — are destined to fail unless they align with the decentralized principles that define true blockchain technology.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Ben-Sasson doubled down on his belief that corporate-controlled chains contradict the core ethos of blockchain and will eventually be abandoned by users who value transparency, ownership, and freedom from centralized authority.
“The important element of blockchain is a system that gets rid of a central entity,” Ben-Sasson wrote. “It comes at a cost: a very complex technology that’s hard to build and hard to use. Even if we apply account abstraction to create simplified UX, the tech under the hood is still very complex.”
Account abstraction — a concept being developed within Ethereum and Starknet — simplifies user experience by abstracting away private key management, allowing for features like social recovery and programmable wallets. However, Ben-Sasson argued that corporate chains using blockchain technology without embracing decentralization would ultimately be missing the point.
Source: Eli Ben-Sasson
He added that blockchains were never meant to reinforce centralized power structures, but rather to eliminate them — a principle that dates back to Bitcoin’s creation as a reaction to the failures of traditional finance.
“Bitcoin was designed to remove the need for trust in large institutions,” he said. “Corporate chains that retain centralized control risk recreating the very system blockchain was built to replace.”
Corporate Chains Could Drive Short-Term Adoption
Despite his criticism, Ben-Sasson acknowledged that corporate involvement in blockchain could help drive mainstream awareness and adoption in the near term.
He noted that the entry of major players like financial institutions and tech conglomerates — such as Stripe’s new Layer-1 blockchain, Tempo — shows how far blockchain technology has come since its early “cypherpunk” days.
“It’s great that corporations want to adopt blockchain technology because it means blockchains are no longer seen as a scary or fringe thing,” he said.
However, Ben-Sasson warned that if these corporate blockchains fail to attract users — due to restrictive governance, limited interoperability, or lack of financial incentives — companies will likely abandon them altogether.
Community Divided on the Future of “Corpo Chains”
Ben-Sasson’s comments sparked an active debate on X, with many in the crypto community split over whether corporate blockchains have a legitimate place in the industry’s future.
One user, posting under the handle @Boluson, argued that many corporations are adopting blockchain “out of fear of being left behind” rather than genuine need.
“Not every project in crypto needs a blockchain. Now everyone wants to build something just to say they have one,” the user said.
Others disagreed. Rob Masiello, CEO of Sova Labs, which focuses on Bitcoin-native infrastructure, said corporate chains could serve valuable business functions even if they don’t follow the decentralized ethos.
“Corporate chains will be successful and useful — but only for the companies that own them. Users just won’t have any way to participate in their upside. Base is an example,” Masiello said, referring to Coinbase’s Layer-2 network built on Optimism.
Some industry watchers predict that corporations may initially launch their own chains but eventually hand over control to decentralized communities or acquire existing networks and scale them up for enterprise use — a hybrid model that could balance innovation with institutional trust.