Welcome to the Decentralization Research Center report, a monthly briefing on events and research relevant to decentralization, DAOs and governance.

This Month’s Updates

Key Notes

This month, we released a new report on policy for blockchain, focusing on control as the most effective way of defining decentralization, and proposing eight decentralization criteria that, if met, would justify lower regulatory burdens. We look forward to being part of this ongoing and vital discussion and welcome all feedback from the community. Here is a brief overview of the report, as well as the report itself.

As the 2025 Decentralized Tech Summit approaches, we are pleased to announce a keynote address from SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, head of the SEC’s crypto task force. Here is a look back at our talk with her on Techquitable, where she shared her perspective on innovation, securities law, and blockchain technology. We look forward to hearing her thoughts on this rapidly changing regulatory landscape.

Almost all places are taken for the event, with experts from Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, Filecoin Foundation, Cato Institute, Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, Foundation for American Innovation, Aptos Labs, Milken Center, Project Liberty Institute, EigenLayer, DeFi Education Fund, Uniswap, Delphi, Near Protocol, Etherealize, Consensys, Coin Center, Wilson Center, DCG, MIT, Lido, Electric Capital, Princeton, Stanford, Georgetown, and more in attendance. If you are interested in attending, you can still apply here.

The Full Rundown

Other stories and research we’ve been tracking for you:

• Abraham Nash describes a theoretical Decentralized Intelligence Network (DIN): “By eliminating centralized gatekeepers, DIN enables open access to and contribution toward AI training resources while maintaining data control. Participants benefit financially through a trustless peer-to-peer network and actively contribute to a decentralized, scalable ecosystem that harnesses their data to develop impactful AI algorithms.”

• Igor Calzada, Géza Németh, and Mohammed Salah Al-Radhi examine how decentralized Web3 mechanisms, specifically those based on blockchain, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and data cooperatives, can establish robust detection techniques fostering trust in GenAI.

• Addresso have launched a new decentralized address book for Web3 in an attempt to better create and manage decentralized identity.

• As the offerings around decentralized social media continue to grow, and the incentive to change platforms continues to increase, Frequency takes a look at what decentralized social media is and the options currently available.
  

• Continuing our research into data cooperatives as a means of decentralizing the control and ownership of data, we found this practical handbook on creating a data coop from the Aapti Institute.

• “We have now spent close to a decade waiting for principles-based guidance to provide clarity to the crypto space. If we, for a moment, stop assuming the calls for regulatory clarity are disingenuous but rather are based on the deep aching need for a viable and compliant path forward, we can start to talk seriously about potential solutions that could serve regulatory goals and the common good.” A policy paper by Sarah Brennan, Gabriel Shapiro, and Marc Goldich.
  

• Jack Henderson introduces us to the concept of broad listening in this Combinations piece on how Japan and Taiwan are leading the way in using AI and other digital systems to aid the democratic process.

• Matt Martensen talks about a cooperative model that could reshape digital ownership: a user-owned web browser that decentralizes power and profits into the hands of the people who use it.

The author of “The Very Brief History of Decentralized Blockchain Governance,” Dr. Abramowicz, joined the Techquitable podcast to discuss how governance over decentralized blockchain communities has evolved over time.

If you’re working on related research or would like to get involved in our work, please reach out to us via [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!

Connor Spelliscy
Executive Director
Decentralization Research Center