Decentralization is a fundamental design element of the Web3 economy. Blockchains and distributed consensus mechanisms are touted as fault-tolerant, attack-resistant, and collusion-proof because they are decentralized. Recent analyses, however, find some blockchains are decentralized, others are centralized, and that there are trends towards both centralization and decentralization in the blockchain economy. Despite the importance and variability of decentralization across blockchains, we still know little about what enables or constrains blockchain decentralization. We hypothesize that the resource flexibility of consensus mechanisms is a key enabler of the sustained decentralization of blockchain networks. We test this hypothesis using three quasi-experimental shocks -- policy-related, infrastructure-related, and technical -- to resources used in consensus. We find strong suggestive evidence that the resource flexibility of consensus mechanisms enables sustained blockchain decentralization and discuss the implications for the design, regulation, and implementation of blockchains.

翻译：去中心化是Web3经济的基本设计要素。区块链和分布式共识机制因去中心化而被誉为具备容错性、抗攻击性和抗合谋性。然而，近期分析发现，部分区块链呈现去中心化特征，另一些则趋向中心化，且区块链经济体中同时存在中心化与去中心化的演进趋势。尽管去中心化在不同区块链中的重要性及变异性显著，但我们对促成或制约区块链去中心化的因素仍知之甚少。我们假设共识机制的资源灵活性是区块链网络持续去中心化的关键赋能因素。通过三项准实验冲击——政策相关冲击、基础设施相关冲击及技术冲击——对共识过程中所使用的资源进行验证，我们获得了有力的暗示性证据：共识机制的资源灵活性能够支撑区块链的持续去中心化。本文进一步探讨了该发现对区块链设计、监管与实施的意义。