Censorship Resistance

Censorship Resistance refers to a blockchain network’s ability to evade attempts to censor it. Censorship resistance is possible in blockchains because they are completely decentralized in both governance and existence. Hundreds and thousands of computers around the globe power these blockchains.

Top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana are censorship-resistant and have withstood past attempts to censor them.

Importance

Censorship Resistance is critical to ensuring that blockchains remain independent of centralized entities such as governments, exchanges, corporate lobbies, and investment funds. This freedom from manipulation helps keep blockchains transparent and adds to their security.

In the world of blockchain technology and crypto markets, centralized control is viewed very negatively. This is why centralized blockchains like BNB and Hedera are less popular than their decentralized counterparts. The same is true of centralized stablecoins such as PYUSD, which, despite its backing from PayPal, has captured only a very small market.

How does Censorship Resistance Work?

Censorship Resistance works through decentralization, i.e, through thousands of computers (nodes) spread worldwide. Even if a country shuts down all its blockchain nodes, the rest of the nodes can easily keep the blockchain running. The same is true for cloud providers, i.e., even if some of them deboard blockchain virtual computers, others can easily sustain the blockchain.

Real Life Example of Censorship Resistance

In 2017, China tried to ban Bitcoin, imposing harsh penalties on those who failed to comply. Yet by 2025, nearly 14% of Bitcoin’s hashing power came from China.

The situation resulted from governments’ inability to control anonymous networks such as Bitcoin. Even if they manage to take down a few nodes, it only takes a few computers (even a Raspberry Pi can run a Bitcoin Node) to restart them.

Frequently Asked Questions