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How to Ensure Blockchains Are Really Decentralized

Decentralization is the foundation of blockchain technology, promising a more resilient and censorship-resistant alternative to centralized systems. But are the industry’s leading protocols as decentralized as they claim to be?
Decentralization can be measured across multiple dimensions. At first glance, the number of entities participating in the validation or block-mining process of a network is one of the simplest and most apparent metrics. However, other factors also contribute to the enhancement or erosion of decentralization:
Hosting facilities: Where nodes are hosted directly impacts who controls them. If thousands of entities host nodes on facilities controlled by one or few entities, it puts the network at risk. For example, Hetzner unilaterally shut down 40% of Solana validators in 2022.
Jurisdiction: Geographic location is relevant because it provides diversification of risk related to unfavorable or unpredictable regulatory action.
Client Software: A blockchain with nodes all running on a single client software is at a higher risk of bugs and vulnerabilities than those on single code.
The following table compares the degree of decentralization of leading protocols using these dimensions:
Source: Solana Decentralization Report, Ethernodes Geographic location of ETH Nodes, Tron Nodes, Polkawatch
Decentralization comes at a cost: the longer the distance between peers, the higher the latency. Latency is crucial for validators to complete assigned tasks in a reasonable period of time. Not meeting these deadlines translates to missed rewards for validators, increasing the incentive to be placed close to larger clusters of peers, thus increasing the centralization. The bigger the block size, or the shorter the block duration, the higher the incentives for centralization.
In other words, many protocols indirectly penalize decentralization by diminishing rewards of those who dare to deploy infrastructure in territories where no one else is doing it. Pioneers carry the burden of blockchain resiliency with no incentive other than doing what needs to be done, where it needs to be done.
Few are the protocols which provide some kind of predictable and explicit incentives at the protocol level (e.g., higher priority at proposing blocks, higher issuance rewards participation) to drive decentralization of the network. In most cases, the incentives are managed as arbitrary grants or delegations from the protocol foundations to specific network participants on a per case basis.
If decentralization remains the cornerstone of blockchain’s ethos, the industry must act accordingly. Protocols need to adopt mechanisms that incentivize nodes to operate in diverse jurisdictions, be hosted on independent facilities, and use varied client software (if available). Without such incentives, the natural pull of economic efficiency will drive centralization, threatening blockchain’s very own promise: censorship resistance resilience.
The future of blockchain depends on networks that are designed to remain decentralized, not by accident or goodwill, but by design.
Let’s ensure decentralization isn’t just an aspiration and that it’s a measurable, incentivized reality.
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Coinbase Outpaces S&P 500 With 43% June Rise as Stablecoin Narrative Grows: CNBC

Shares of Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) rose 43% this month, making the firm the top performer in the S&P 500 since it joined the index at the end of last month.
June’s run is already the stock’s best since November and caps three straight monthly gains. Coinbase’s shares reached their highest level since their public debut.
COIN hit a $382 high this week before enduring a slight correction, ending the week at $353 and seeing a slight 0.7% drop in after-hours trading to $351.
The wider S&P 500 index rose roughly 5% in June as geopolitical tensions eased.
Washington’s progress on the GENIUS Act, Congress’s first rulebook for dollar-pegged stablecoins, helped shift investor focus from trading fees to stablecoin revenue.
The bill brightened the outlook for Circle, whose shares hit a record high and saw its market cap near that of Coinbase this week.
Coinbase keeps all yield on USDC balances held on its platform and nearly half of other USDC income, equal to about 99 percent of Circle’s revenue, giving shareholders indirect exposure at no added cost, CNBC reported Friday, citing analysts including Citizens’ head of financial technology research Devin Ryan.
Trading, however, remains subdued. Average daily volume on Coinbase has drifted lower since April.
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Robinhood Launches Micro Bitcoin, Solana and XRP Futures Contracts

Robinhood (HOOD) has introduced micro futures on bitcoin (BTC), solana (SOL) and XRP in the United States., expanding its existing crypto futures offering for its nearly 26 million funded accounts.
Micro contracts need far less collateral than full-size futures, letting traders take directional positions while committing a smaller slice of capital.
The contracts offer traders more flexibility to bet on a cryptocurrency’s future price direction or hedge current positions given their smaller size.
The launch rounds out a futures suite that began with BTC and ETH in January. It also comes weeks after the firm closed its $200 million purchase of Bitstamp and finalized a $179 million deal for Canada’s WonderFi.
Robinhood’s data shows that crypto notional volumes have exploded upward over time, reaching $11.7 billion in May. The figure marks a 36% rise month-over-month, and a 65% growth year-over-year.
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Why is XRP Up Today? Trio of Catalysts Sees Token Outperform Wider Crypto Market

XRP climbed 5.5% to $2.19 in the last 24 hours after a trio of catalysts converged to help the cryptocurrency outperform the wider cryptocurrency market.
One of the catalysts was launch of XRP micro futures on Robinhood. The contracts offer traders more flexibility to bet on the cryptocurrency’s future price direction or hedge current positions given their smaller size.
Regulatory fog also thinned. On Friday, Ripple withdrew its cross-appeal in its long-running U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit. The SEC sued Ripple back in 2020 over its XRP sales, alleging these violated securities laws. The SEC is expected to drop its own appeal, leaving last year’s ruling, ordering Ripple to pay a $125 million civil penalty to the SEC, intact. The move could lift a lid that had kept some investors on the sidelines.
On-chain data rounded out the bullish setup. The XRP Ledger logged over a 1.1 million active addresses over the past week according to crypto analyst Ali Martinez, who cited Glassnode data.
XRP’s rise saw it outperform the wider crypto market, with the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index rising 1.7% in the last 24 hours.
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