Claims of Solana’s decentralization have triggered waves of criticism, with pundits citing a decline in network validators. In under three years, Solana’s validators have fallen from over 2,500 to barely 800, raising concerns about the network’s claims of decentralization.
Critics Rip Solana Over Decentralization Claims
Pundits are taking swipes at claims of Solana being more decentralized than Bitcoin, with declining validator metrics emerging as a source of concern. Justin Bons, Chief Investment Officer at Cyber Capital, disclosed in an X post that Solana outperforms Bitcoin on several key metrics.
He argued that, aside from being more centralized, Solana surpasses Bitcoin in programmability, privacy, and security. Bons noted that, based on measurable objective metrics, SOL is scarcer than BTC, dubbing Solana the third iteration of Bitcoin.
“Solana is Bitcoin 3.0,” said Bons. “SOL is more decentralized, more scalable, more programmable, more private, more secure & more scarce.”
Bons’ comment sparked a barrage of criticism, with Helius Labs CEO Mert Mumtaz leading the vanguard. According to Mert, Solana is not as decentralized as Bitcoin, with a significantly lower Nakamoto Coefficient (NC). NC typically measures how many independent entities will be required to collude to seize control of a blockchain.
“Sol is not more decentralized, its NC is not even close to 21, and it’s certainly not scarce,” said Mert in a X post.
Furthermore, critics poked holes in Bons’ claim that SOL is scarcer than BTC, noting its uncapped supply.
Solana’s Validator Counts Hits Sub-800
Critics highlighted Solana’s declining validator count as a major concern for the network’s claim of decentralization. On-chain indicators show the Solana validator count has dropped from a high of 2,500 to fewer than 800 over three years.
On the one hand, proponents argue that the decline in validators represents a pruning of Sybil nodes, a healthy move toward decentralization. Sybil nodes typically appear as several operators but belong to the same entity, inflating numbers without adding any major independence.
On the other hand, insiders with knowledge argue that the decline in the validator count represents the shutdown of several real network operators. A preliminary post-mortem points fingers at sky-high expenses, from expensive hardware to bandwidth costs, and at foreign validators who are winding up their operations.
“Claiming that Solana is more decentralized than Bitcoin is true delusion,” said pseudonymous X user Sssebi. “Validators are giving up daily as they cannot afford the costs of running a node on Solana.”
Despite the argument against Solana’s decentralization claims, institutional interest in the network has reached frenetic levels. Meanwhile, spot Solana ETF inflows have surged to record highs amid broad crypto market consolidation.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/solanas-decentralization-claim-falls-apart-as-validator-count-collapses/
