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The decentralization benchmark by node count and credible neutrality — but mining is pool-concentrated.
L1PoW
- Type
- L1 · PoW
- How it works
- Proof-of-Work secured by miners worldwide, with ~20,000+ reachable full nodes enforcing the rules. There is no formal governance — changes ship only via broad social consensus (BIPs).
- Nakamoto coefficient
- ~2–3*
- Node / validator set
- ~20,000+ reachable full nodes
- Client diversity
- Bitcoin Core dominant; alternatives exist
- Governance
- No formal governance (BIP + social consensus)
- Key risk
- Mining-pool concentration
Assessment
Bitcoin is the most credibly neutral and node-decentralized network, with no foundation and no on-chain governance to capture. Its low Nakamoto coefficient is a quirk of measurement: a handful of mining pools coordinate most hashpower, even though the underlying miners are many and can re-point at will.
Decentralized here
- Largest reachable full-node set
- No foundation / no on-chain governance to capture
- Maximally credibly neutral
- Battle-tested for 15+ years
Centralization vectors
- Mining hashpower concentrated in a few pools
- Bitcoin Core client dominance
- Slow, conservative change process
B+Verdict
Unmatched on node-level and political decentralization; mining-pool concentration is the asterisk.
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Grade as of June 2026; an opinionated synthesis of cited public metrics (Chainspect / Nakaflow (Nakamoto), L2BEAT (stages), clientdiversity.org — 2026). Figures shift — see methodology.
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