In the last issue, we discussed: to determine whether a chain is decentralized, the first step is to look at the node threshold, whether you can freely join and run a node. However, being able to join does not mean you can keep the ledger. The decision of "who keeps the ledger and how" is made by the blockchain's consensus mechanism.
Simply put, you can think of the blockchain as a ledger that everyone writes together, with nodes being like each person holding a copy of this ledger, responsible for proofreading, archiving, and broadcasting; the consensus mechanism is the "rule-maker," deciding who keeps the ledger, how it is kept, and what to do in case of errors.
Decentralized blockchains typically use mechanisms like PoW (Proof of Work) or PoS (Proof of Stake) to allow global participants to compete for block production, making the entire process open and transparent.
For example, Bitcoin's PoW allows miners to compete for the right to keep the ledger through computational power; while Ethereum's current PoS selects validators by staking ETH, taking turns proposing and validating blocks.
Although these two mechanisms are different in form, they share a common point—no organization can directly decide who keeps the ledger, nor can they arbitrarily tamper with the ledger, ensuring the decentralization of the network.
So how can we determine if a chain's consensus mechanism is truly decentralized?
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It's quite simple; you can check its block explorer to see if the block production addresses are diverse and whether a single group of institutions has long monopolized block production.
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Alternatively, you can check its technical documentation to see if it clearly states which consensus mechanism is used and whether it supports public staking and open competition.
Conversely, some consortium chains do not have PoW or PoS at all, but directly designate a few "node institutions" to take turns producing blocks, much like companies taking turns on shifts. This type of consensus mechanism is essentially centralized control, and cannot be considered decentralized.
Therefore, the node threshold addresses the question of "whether one can join," while the consensus mechanism addresses "who leads." Together, these two dimensions can reveal the true nature of a chain—whether it is genuinely decentralized or merely a façade of decentralization.
"Besides nodes and consensus mechanisms, there is another key point that cannot be overlooked—whether the code is open source. Because the nodes you run and the rules you use will ultimately be written in the code; in the next issue, we will discuss open-source code.
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