What is Censorship-resistance?
Cryptocurrencies are decentralized, which means they don’t need a central authority to function. Cryptography is used to secure transactions and governs the creation of new cryptocurrency units. Hence, the number of bitcoins cannot be increased or restricted by any monetary policy.
Cryptocurrencies are censorship-resistant since they are not controlled or frozen by any individual, government, or organization. Transactions cannot be reversed or censored.
Segments of Censorship Resistance in the Crypto Industry
Censorship resistance in blockchain networks refers to the ability of cryptocurrency users to make irreversible trustless transactions without needing permission from a third party. Nodes in a decentralized network verify transactions using cryptography and keep track of them in a publicly available ledger called a blockchain.
Bitcoin is frequently referred to as censorship-proof. It has been observed in countries with more stringent controls. Bitcoin is entirely borderless and decentralized, so it’s possible to send Bitcoin across international borders without delays or taxes. It can also be shared, copied, and modified without any restrictions or barriers from the law in most nations.
Transaction Censorship
Transaction censorship is the prevention of cryptocurrency transactions between two cryptocurrency addresses. It applies to both cryptocurrency wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges. Blockchain currencies are pseudonymous, which means their addresses do not contain any personally identifying information.
The ability to hide a transaction’s trail from authorities and others is a significant benefit in avoiding government censorship. Once the information has been recorded on the blockchain, it is impossible to delete.
Cryptocurrency, however, does not always offer absolute censorship resistance because it may be shut down by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or governments. When ISPs prohibit access to cryptocurrency, consumers may be unable to use their cryptocurrency because it is inaccessible.
To dampen the impact of cryptocurrencies, governments can shut down cryptocurrency exchanges, mining pools, wallets, and other components. Additionally, once funds have been sent from a wallet, they are irretrievable.
Censorship Resistance System
A censorship-resistance system is a collection of technologies and tactics developers may employ to impede online content censorship. For example, censorship resistance is a significant concern in nations like China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
There are a few cryptocurrencies that have been created with censorship resistance in mind. Monero was built so that governments could not trace transactions. Another alternative is Zcash, which was developed with the same aim in mind.