Topic: [Question] Bitcoin More decentralized than Ethereum? - page 2. (Read 229 times)

I think the word decentralization in this context means more, decentralization is also a form in which there no central authority that decides the fate of the coin. And in the case of Ethereum the validators which are the highest stakers of the coin have this central power because once two or more of them actually pull out then it could mean the end of that coin or even affects its value.



Why do still say that Ethereum is decentralized even after it been run on POS method. The layer of a blockchain actually satisfies if it is centralized and with POS giving space to just the highest stakers then it is centralized already, not like POW were any one with enough computational power can come in. After the merger 50% of Ethereum was even reported to be owned by just few wallets, aren’t these owners the manipulators already? Does a coin that has manipulators decentralized? If yes then was the difference with fiat currency?

And yes Vitalik is also a threat to Ethereum, this doesn’t need much explanation but just look at how every threat towards CZ puts Binance in a bind always

As my understanding goes Bitcoin is more decentralized, the reason being:

• Bitcoin has a more extended history
• Large number of nodes & miners
• Bitcoin ecosystem being resilient against centralization

While Ethereum Governance is questionable?

But whether all miners get together and carry out a 51% attack or all validators get together for a 51% attack is basically the same, it is possible with both

Does that mean that Ethereum would be just as decentralized as Bitcoin for a validator?

However, Vitalik does not have the only power over Ethereum, here are too voting takes place as with Bitcoin.
In addition, with Bitcoin there are only a few programmers who add the suggestions in the source code.

Well, just that the Bitcoin Blockchain is 500GB in size and the Ethereum Blockchain 14TB makes it more expensive

For me, decentralized means:
That I have control over my bitcoins, that a government cannot take them away from me or someone blacklists my bitcoins so that I can no longer use them.
To me it also means that bitcoin is not under the control of a single party who can decide what to do with it and what not.
It has to be democratic.

For me Bitcoin is decentralized, but I wonder if it is also Ethereum.
If the only reason is that it's PoW vs. PoS then to me Ethereum is also decentralized.
If it's because Satoshi went into hiding and Vitalik didn't, then for me Ethereum is also decentralized on that point.

Maybe it's just a matter of faith like religion, some believe in Bitcoin, others in Ethereum and some in both or neither

_act_ summed it up well. It's absurd to compare Bitcoin and Ethereum about decentralization.

They sold premined ETH with ICO. Bitcoin never do that.
Vitalik Buterin is a known figure and have the biggest influence over the market, even for other coins. Bitcoin don't have this type of figure.
They even roll back and forked the coin. Ethereum isn't even in their original chain, Ethereum Classic is.
Switching from PoW to PoS is a hit about decentralization.

Ethereum has its benefits, but it's impossible to talk about decentralized ETH anymore.

What makes you conclude that? Do you have any data on the cost of running a full node for each network? One of the critical issues is understanding what parts you include in the word "decentralized". If you draw a conclusion just from whether you can run a full node or not, then the issue would be ambiguous since almost any coin allows you to do that. How would you differentiate between Bitcoin and other blockchains owned by some governments if the latter also allows you to run your own node then? Are you going to call them decentralized too?

I believe you can see what other factors you should consider from the answers shared above. The consensus mechanism, how it launched, who controls the repository, who can participate, and so on are one of those things. If you don't agree that those factors are important, then I guess no one can convince you that Bitcoin is more decentralized than others.

That also make cost to perform malicious attack (51% attack, block withholding attack, etc.) far more costly.


There are also concern with centralization of validator[1] where some comply to censorship request by government[2].

[1] https://news.bitcoin.com/proof-of-work-proponents-question-validator-censorship-as-59-of-staked-ethereum-is-held-by-4-companies/
[2] https://www.mevwatch.info/

If talking about decentralization, do not compare bitcoin with ether. Ether even gone more centralized.

Some ether were premined.
PoS makes it more centralized.
Ethereum developers want to reduce validators, making it more centralized (they want to make people that can be a validator to have at least 2048 ETH. It is still 32 ETH but they are working to increase it).
Ether is influenced more by developers like Vitalik Buterin, no one knows Satoshi Nakamoto.

It is because the proof of work concept is highly diversified, impossible to launch 51% attack so Bitcoin seems highly decentralized where as Ethereum is now running based on Proof of stake which involves the block validation process only by the validators.

Full node has nothing to do with the decentralization because it only verifies the data of blockchain so if one is trying to tamper the data it will eliminate from the network so higher the number of nodes will ensures the tamper proof netwotk.

Again the answer depends on the validation process since bitcoin runs based on Proof of Work concept in that miners compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles using computational power. This competition requires substantial computational resources, such as specialized hardware and electricity. As a result, PoW networks tend to attract a larger number of participants who contribute their resources to secure the network. This distributed participation helps in achieving a higher degree of decentralization.

Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake: understanding the key differences

I don't understand why Bitcoin is more decentralized than Ethereum even though you operate a full node with both.

To create the blocks:
Bitcoin PoW = miners
Ethereum PoS = Validator

With Bitcoin/Ethereum Full Node you can verify the blocks from the miners/validators.

So the only point why Bitcoin is more decentralized than Ethereum is:
The Bitcoin Full Node is cheaper than the Ethereum Full Node ?

Or is it the case with Ethereum that you cannot verify the blocks as a full node but only as a validator?
So:
Bitcoin miners create block / full nodes verify the block
Ethereum validator create block / validator also verify the block