Snowden contrasted Solana's architecture with Bitcoin's, asserting that Bitcoin is designed to resist state intervention, while Solana is more susceptible to government control.

The centralization issues highlighted by Snowden could expose Solana to regulatory scrutiny, similar to challenges faced by other blockchain projects.

This debate over Solana's centralization is part of a larger conversation within the crypto community, particularly between Bitcoin maximalists and supporters of alternative blockchains.

Running a validator on Solana requires a substantial investment, estimated at around $1.2 million in staked assets, which raises concerns about accessibility for average users.

During the recent Token2049 conference in Singapore, Edward Snowden raised significant concerns about the centralization of the Solana blockchain.

Snowden argued that while Solana boasts technological advantages in speed and efficiency, these come at the expense of decentralization, potentially making the network vulnerable to authoritarian control.

The validator program, managed by the Solana Foundation, subsidizes validators who adhere to specific rules, drawing parallels to traditional banking systems.

Critics point out that high hardware and bandwidth requirements for running Solana validators further complicate participation for everyday users.

In response to Snowden's criticism, Solana developer Mert Mumtaz claimed that the network's decentralization is improving, with multiple clients operational on the mainnet.

Snowden warned of increasing government efforts to regulate digital communication and urged the crypto community to uphold the core values of decentralization and privacy.

The crypto community reacted strongly to Snowden's comments, with some engineers defending Solana's decentralization and dismissing his criticisms as unfounded.

Despite the ongoing criticisms, Solana's native token, SOL, recently saw a price increase, reflecting its continued popularity in the market.