English

Decentralization in PoS Blockchain Consensus: Quantification and Advancement

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing 2025-04-22 v1 Computers and Society Emerging Technologies

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2504.14351,
  title  = {Decentralization in PoS Blockchain Consensus: Quantification and Advancement},
  author = {Shashank Motepalli and Hans-Arno Jacobsen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.14351},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T23:04:20.630Z