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经济的基本设计元素。区块链与分布式共识机制因其去中心化特性而被誉为具有容错、抗攻击和防共谋能力。然而，近期分析发现，部分区块链呈现去中心化特征，而另一些则呈现中心化趋势，且区块链经济中存在同时向中心化与去中心化演变的动态。尽管跨区块链的去中心化程度具有重要性和差异性，但我们对区块链去中心化的促进或制约因素仍知之甚少。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驱动力。通过利用三项准实验冲击——政策相关、基础设施相关及技术相关——作用于共识机制所使用的资源，我们对这一假设进行了检验。研究发现，强有力的证据表明共识机制的资源灵活性能够实现区块链的持续去中心化，并进一步讨论了其对区块链设计、监管与实施的意义。