The Decentralization Research Center introduces a new framework assessing decentralization through the lens of control, emphasizing that a network is decentralized if no individual or group can unilaterally control it. This framework aims to address potential regulatory challenges over the next two years, ensuring the blockchain sector does not revert to centralized practices. The report outlines seven principles to enforce decentralization, including open-source, permissionless, and economically independent standards. It recognizes the necessity of human intervention in emergencies while aiming to constrain unchecked control. Recent developments, such as Scroll's achievement of Stage 1 status as an Ethereum layer-2 solution, highlight the emergence of rollups that enhance trust minimization. However, both Scroll and another unnamed project risk downgrades unless they ensure key guarantees regarding user exit windows. The DRC's approach offers builders and regulators a common language focused on control dynamics, which could effectively distinguish genuinely decentralized projects from centralized technologies misrepresented as decentralized. The emphasis is on promoting real decentralization, fundamentally aligned with the original ethos of blockchain technology.

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