The Journal · Network risk
Count the entities. Then ask if they are separate.
A Nakamoto coefficient is one question about consensus. It is not a certificate that a network is safe, neutral or fit for a treasury.
Decentralisation is usually a brand. The Nakamoto coefficient makes it a count: how many genuinely independent entities would have to coordinate before they could control, censor, halt or materially compromise consensus. Higher is harder to capture. It is one of the few measures that can be argued about with a number.
A July 2026 snapshot, widely cited since, put Polkadot at 166, Avalanche at 25, Solana at 18, Cardano at 15, ICP at 14 and Algorand at 12. Later rankings have kept Polkadot first and Avalanche near the top, with Cardano, Aptos, ICP, TRON and Algorand also in the leading group. The snapshot is not re-measured here. The argument does not need it to be eternal.
In this piece
- 01What the number is allowed to mean
- 02A hundred validators can still be one failure
- 03From a leaderboard to an underwriting file
- 04The standard worth holding
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