Ray Youssef, the former founder of Paxful, thinks Ethereum, the world’s largest smart contracting platform, is a “drain and drag” on Bitcoin.

Ethereum Slowing Down Bitcoin?

In his post on May 21, it is evident that the former CEO is critical of Ethereum and thinks it is a hindrance and obstacle to Bitcoin’s progress.

Breaking down his view, Youssef appears to suggest that Ethereum’s impact has been largely negative, delaying advancements in crypto.

Ethereum is simply a drain and drag on #bitcoin We should be grateful that it slowed things down as we needed time to figure things out and get the pieces in play. We have been steady now it is time to blaze. #civkit will be what Eth should have been and I am Vitalik on roids. pic.twitter.com/CdbfB0UpaP

— Ray Youssef (@raycivkit) May 20, 2023

However, he expressed gratitude for the recent slowdown following last year’s crypto winter. In his assessment, the dump in asset prices from late 2021 slowed down activity allowing the crypto industry to strategize, adapt, and prepare for a new phase of innovation.

Youssef’s tweet implied that Ethereum’s role has been to impede Bitcoin’s growth rather than foster its development. By referring Ethereum as a “drain and drag” on Bitcoin, he insinuates that Ethereum has not lived up to its potential, hindering Bitcoin’s progress.

Even so, Youssef appears to state that the time spent grappling with Ethereum’s limitations has allowed the industry to evaluate its shortcomings and establish a solid foundation. He emphasized the importance of the recent lull, saying the industry “needed time to figure things out and get the pieces in play” before pushing forward.

Fulfilling What Ethereum Failed To Achieve

While the former CEO thrashed Ethereum, he revealed that he is working on a project, CivKit, that will realize what Ethereum failed to achieve.

He also compares himself with the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, saying his participation in the CivKit project is like “Vitalik on roids.”

This comment gives the impression that his project would bring about major improvement in crypto, adding features that could be superior to what Ethereum has accomplished up to this point.

When he was the CEO of Paxful, a crypto peer-to-peer trading platform, the portal delisted Ethereum after the network shifted to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm.

Paxful cited centralization concerns since the network now depended on validators who stake their coins for a chance to validate transactions and add them to a block.

The platform also cited the number of scams orchestrated on the Ethereum network. As a means of protecting its users from scams, the platform said they were delisting ETH.

Youssef has been a vocal supporter of Bitcoin. On May 18, he said Operation Choke Point in the United States, for instance, will crash Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market. Still, the former CEO remains buoyant saying that without the coin, the country “has no future”.