TY - JOUR
T1 - When Permissioned Blockchains Deliver More Decentralization Than Permissionless
AU - Bakos, Yannis
AU - Halaburda, Hanna
AU - Mueller-Bloch, Christoph
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Permissionless blockchain systems inspired by Bitcoin and related crypto-ecosystems are frequently promoted as the enablers of an open, distributed, and decentralized ideal. They are hailed as a solution that can “democratize” the world by creating a technological imperative favoring open, distributed, and decentralized systems, platforms, and markets. We argue that such claims and expectations, while they may be fulfilled under certain circumstances, are generally exaggerated and often misguided. They illustrate a penchant to associate open access with decentralized control in distributed architectures, an association that while possible is far from guaranteed. When enterprise, social and economic activities are “put on the blockchain” in order to avoid centralized control, permissioned governance may offer a more decentralized and more predictable outcome than open permissionless governance offers in practice.
AB - Permissionless blockchain systems inspired by Bitcoin and related crypto-ecosystems are frequently promoted as the enablers of an open, distributed, and decentralized ideal. They are hailed as a solution that can “democratize” the world by creating a technological imperative favoring open, distributed, and decentralized systems, platforms, and markets. We argue that such claims and expectations, while they may be fulfilled under certain circumstances, are generally exaggerated and often misguided. They illustrate a penchant to associate open access with decentralized control in distributed architectures, an association that while possible is far from guaranteed. When enterprise, social and economic activities are “put on the blockchain” in order to avoid centralized control, permissioned governance may offer a more decentralized and more predictable outcome than open permissionless governance offers in practice.
U2 - 10.1145/3442371
DO - 10.1145/3442371
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0001-0782
VL - 64
SP - 20
EP - 22
JO - Communications of the ACM
JF - Communications of the ACM
IS - 2
ER -