[ARTICLE] This paper argues that while permissionless blockchain systems are promoted as democratizing and decentralizing solutions, these claims are often exaggerated, and in practice, permissioned governance can offer more decentralized and predictable outcomes than open, permissionless governance.

by Christoph Mueller-Bloch (ESSEC Business School), Yannis Bakos, Hanna Halaburda

Permissionless blockchain system 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 economy 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 frequently exaggerated or even misguided. They illustrate a tendency to equate 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.

[Please read the research paper here]