Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has acknowledged that centralization is a significant challenge for the Ethereum network. He believes that it could take up to 20 years to find a solution to this problem. However, a recent report by JPMorgan warns that Ethereum’s centralization has increased due to the rise of Ethereum staking since the Merge and Shanghai upgrades. The report highlights that the top five liquid staking providers, including Lido, Coinbase, Figment, Binance, and Kraken, control over 50% of staking on the Ethereum network. JPMorgan also notes that even decentralized liquid staking platforms like Lido still involve a high degree of centralization. The report raises concerns about the risks associated with centralization, such as single points of failure and collusion. Additionally, JPMorgan points out that post-Merge Ethereum has experienced a decline in staking yields, with standard block rewards decreasing from 4.3% to 3.5% and total staking yield declining from 7.3% to around 5.5%. This increase in centralization and decrease in staking yields have been observed by other Ethereum observers as well.
