Decentralization in PoS Blockchain Consensus: Quantification and Advancement
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866913800987344896 |
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| author | Motepalli, Shashank Jacobsen, Hans-Arno |
| author_facet | Motepalli, Shashank Jacobsen, Hans-Arno |
| contents | Decentralization is a foundational principle of permissionless blockchains, with consensus mechanisms serving a critical role in its realization. This study quantifies the decentralization of consensus mechanisms in proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains using a comprehensive set of metrics, including Nakamoto coefficients, Gini, Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI), Shapley values, and Zipfs coefficient. Our empirical analysis across ten prominent blockchains reveals significant concentration of stake among a few validators, posing challenges to fair consensus. To address this, we introduce two alternative weighting models for PoS consensus: Square Root Stake Weight (SRSW) and Logarithmic Stake Weight (LSW), which adjust validator influence through non-linear transformations. Results demonstrate that SRSW and LSW models improve decentralization metrics by an average of 51% and 132%, respectively, supporting more equitable and resilient blockchain systems. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_14351 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Decentralization in PoS Blockchain Consensus: Quantification and Advancement Motepalli, Shashank Jacobsen, Hans-Arno Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing Computers and Society Emerging Technologies Decentralization is a foundational principle of permissionless blockchains, with consensus mechanisms serving a critical role in its realization. This study quantifies the decentralization of consensus mechanisms in proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains using a comprehensive set of metrics, including Nakamoto coefficients, Gini, Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI), Shapley values, and Zipfs coefficient. Our empirical analysis across ten prominent blockchains reveals significant concentration of stake among a few validators, posing challenges to fair consensus. To address this, we introduce two alternative weighting models for PoS consensus: Square Root Stake Weight (SRSW) and Logarithmic Stake Weight (LSW), which adjust validator influence through non-linear transformations. Results demonstrate that SRSW and LSW models improve decentralization metrics by an average of 51% and 132%, respectively, supporting more equitable and resilient blockchain systems. |
| title | Decentralization in PoS Blockchain Consensus: Quantification and Advancement |
| topic | Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing Computers and Society Emerging Technologies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.14351 |