When Bitcoin emerged, it promised freedom: a network without rulers, where anyone with a laptop could stand equal. Decentralization became the rallying cry of blockchains—no banks, no middlemen, just code and fairness. But in 2025, that vision is crumbling. We sought a revolution, only to stumble into oligarchy. Or plutocracy? Pseudodecentralization is everywhere, and its grip tightens.
Bitcoin is a glaring case. Its hashrate is shackled by mining pools. AntPool, F2Pool, and Foundry command over 50% of the power. For regular folks, the door’s shut: millions for ASICs, cheap energy, connections - it’s an elite game. Ethereum fares no better. Post-PoS, validators stake thousands of ETH - 32 ETH to start, that’s $100,000+ as of April 2025. Whales like Lido widen the gap. Newbies? Left with scraps.
Industry “mastodons” - top networks and major exchanges - don’t save the day; they strangle it. Listing for young projects means million-dollar fees, red tape, and demands startups can’t meet. These giants erect walls, guarding their profits, not the ecosystem. The entry bar to crypto soars: hardware, fees, regulations - all stacked against newcomers. And let's not forget about market manipulation, both by exchanges and by whales.
Pseudodecentralization spreads deeper. DAOs, once hailed as democracy, drown under whales with millions in tokens. Liquidity pools in DeFi? Concentrated with big players, while small fry scrape by. Even decentralized finance feels more like centralized schemes with a shiny label. At this rate, blockchains might morph into a payment system within the banking sector, which has dominated unchanged for 300 years. Young projects fight to break through with fresh ideas, but their voices fade amid the oligarchs’ roar.
Is there hope? Perhaps the answer lies in the underrated Nakamoto Coefficient - a true measure of decentralization. More on that in the next part.
P. S. I really want to see the whole industry get back on track. But in my opinion, right now there is only a pursuit of immediate profit without looking into the future!
