In this dashboard, we have analyzed the decentralization performance of NEAR in its network. In order to have a better view of the decentralization matter from the point of view of the NEAR developers, we will present the explanations given by the NEAR developers for the decentralization of the network. Then we define two criteria that can be obtained according to the flipside data.

Since its inception, NEAR Foundation has been committed to not only helping build a fast, secure and scalable blockchain but to facilitate the decentralization of the network to the community.

Not only are concrete steps being taken to fast-track the decentralization of NEAR’s underlying technology and infrastructure, but massive contributions are being made towards galvanizing the developer community, ensuring that power lies with the community upon which NEAR thrives.

Decentralizing for a vibrant Web3 experience

In decentralization, control and decision-making are transferred from one centralized authority to a distributed network of community participants. At their core, decentralized networks work to improve the functionality, security, and success of the network by removing the ability of any individual party to exert control over another.

Decentralization provides a trustless environment, where overall data reconciliation is improved through validators, and every participant has access to a real-time, shared view of the data. Decentralization really shines through its ability to optimize resource distribution, resulting in an amazingly reliable and consistent experience for developers, validators, and end-users alike.

Rooted in cutting-edge, scalable infrastructure

Most blockchains require every node (stakeholders maintaining the network) to store all of the chain’s information as well as process all of the network’s transactions for block production. While keeping the network secure, this can lead to extreme inefficiency and unbearable slowness, as it takes varying amounts of time for all nodes to keep themselves up to date. In turn, this can also make Web3 app building and scaling prohibitively expensive for some developers – a significant hurdle to mainstream adoption.

NEAR’s Nightshade Sharding alleviates inefficiency and bottlenecks by partitioning a database into smaller pieces (shards). Nodes are divided into small groups responsible for one part of the chain’s data and are able to process transactions simultaneously. The inefficiency of one node verifying transactions in one block is supplanted by multiple nodes verifying transactions in multiple blocks. The result is exceptional speed and throughput on the chain.

While many new blockchains are developing layer 2 scaling solutions and offer theoretical throughput of thousands of transactions-per-second (TPS), their underlying infrastructures hit upper limits that ultimately place a throttle on their capabilities. NEAR’s Nightshade Sharding allows for linear scaling of throughput corresponding to the number of shards, laying the foundation to scale to demand as more and more users onboard the platform. In essence, the network will create more shards when the network is in high demand, and scale them back when demand drops, saving energy and resources. Ultimately, Nightshade gives NEAR the capability to accommodate mass consumer adoption, up to billions of users.

NEAR is simultaneously working on a number of improvements on the protocol level that will build a secure, user-friendly, and scalable blockchain that can support mainstream usage and adoption.

Accessible and inclusive blockchain validation

In December 2021, the NEAR Protocol team released the updated validator selection algorithm, paving the way for 100 validator nodes on Mainnet, which reduces the validators’ barrier to entry by bringing down the seat price from 3.6 million $NEAR to 67,000. This lowered seat price makes it easier for them to join the active validator set and maintain their seats. Working against exclusivity, NEAR is committed to making these seats accessible to all demographics, socio-economic classes, and geo-locations.

To further lower validators’ barrier to entry and make this role more accessible to all, NEAR is introducing Chunk-Only Producers in mid-2022. Soon, more individuals will be able to contribute to the participants in the block-producing process, which creates new opportunities to not only earn rewards but also enhance the NEAR ecosystem’s security

Decentralization as a catalyst for community

Source: https://near.org/blog/near-foundation-decentralization-roadmap/

NEAR Protocol is a decentralized platform for building and deploying decentralized applications (dApps). Its goal is to make it easy for developers to build dApps and for users to access and use them. NEAR has expressed its goal to decentralize further in 2023.

To assess whether NEAR is becoming more decentralized, one can look at various metrics such as the number of validators on the network, the distribution of stake among them, and the network's overall decentralization score. An increase in the number of validators and a more even distribution of stake would indicate that the network is becoming more decentralized. Additionally, a higher decentralization score, calculated using various algorithms, would also suggest that the network is becoming more decentralized.

It is important to keep in mind that decentralization is a continuous process and the measures of decentralization may change over time. It is also important to consider other factors such as network security, scalability, and user adoption when assessing the overall decentralization of NEAR.