Litecoin has issued a statement arguing that the era of truly decentralized, fairly-launched, proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and itself is over. The statement suggests that new projects attempting to replicate this model would face significant challenges and risks of being centralized or compromised.
This warning follows a recent 51% attack on Monero, where a single mining pool, Qubic, gained majority control of the network's hash power, causing instability and a drop in the token's price. This incident highlights the fragility of even established projects if their decentralization is weak.
The article also points out the inherent centralization risks in the proof-of-stake (PoS) model, now dominant among newer blockchains. For example, over 60% of Ethereum’s staked coins are concentrated among a few entities like Lido and major exchanges. This gives a small group disproportionate power in network governance and creates a risk of censorship or manipulation. Solana faces similar issues with its validator centralization.
According to Litecoin's perspective, Bitcoin and Litecoin remain unique because they launched without pre-mines, venture capital funding, or other centralizing factors. Their globally distributed, open proof-of-work mining makes them more resilient to external control, embodying the principles of "freedom money" and financial sovereignty.
August 2025, Cryptoniteuae