RE: Is Hive decentralized and who governs it? Episode 2
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"...this is very good news"
It is.
However, it is not over. Decentralization is a journey, and centralization incessantly waits in the wings even when it has not succeeded at capturing the economy. Steem reveals the ultimate fate of economies that fail to maintain decentralization, and that once centralized, it is difficult to even conceive of how to decentralize them.
While delegations reveal support for the middle and lower class, it is ownership of stake that informs governance, and that cannot be delegated.
I must remain liable to being labeled impossible to satisfy regarding decentralization as long as the very real threat of the hazards of centralization via governance remain. I do agree that the revealed delegation is good, but must continue to recommend more of the same, and mitigation of the hazard to governance of the Golden Rule.
If Hive is to succeed at enabling society to distribute wealth, actually being a tide that floats all boats, it must resist the unction of legacy financial economics, and continue the path of improved distribution revealed by the data you share today. I do not foresee being free of the threat of centralization becoming a certainty any time soon, and can but be glad we yet have not succumbed.
Let's keep doing that.
Thanks!
I mostly agree with all your points, although I think the risk of a centralized takover will not be high in the near term, once the delayed stake voting is deployed, which removes the highest risk of a centralization attack via rapid custodial stake voting.
On a related note, my original question wasn't meant to identify any "increased decentralization". I just thought the original data showed too much whale stake as "inactive" which seemed suspect to me, as it does provide a pretty reasonable rate of return versus other investments right now, so I thought it unlikely that it wasn't being used to curate. And my theory, which is now well supported by the data, is that whale stake is in fact largely active, it's just via delegations rather than direct voting.
It appears you were quite correct.