Blockchain analysis platform Santiment revealed the centralization of blockchain networks and the concentration of tokens held by top wallets. The report highlighted the top ten most popular cryptocurrencies and analyzed the percentage of supply controlled by the top ten addresses.

Polygon (MATIC) emerged as the most centralized, with the top ten addresses holding 69.4% of the supply. This was followed by Shiba Inu (SHIB) at 61.2%, Uniswap (UNI) at 50.8%, Pepe (PEPE) at 46.1%, Ethereum (ETH) at 44.0%, Tether (USDT) at 33.1%, and Chainlink (LINK) at 31.1%.

The altcoins with the least centralization, as highlighted by Santiment, include Toncoin (TON) at 27.5%, Multi Collateral Dai (DAI) at 24.5%, and USD Coin (USDC) at 19.0%. The blockchain analysis platform noted that there are several factors capable of influencing whether “an asset has a high or low concentration of holdings among top wallets,” while adding:

“Coins that are widely distributed through airdrops or community rewards might have a more decentralized distribution (such as Arbitrum, which is not pictured among these assets).”

On the other hand, Santiment explained that in some cases, early adopters or project insiders can have significant investment in the cryptocurrency. One such example the X post talked about was Toncoin, which had the top wallet owning a massive but eventually, the bullish rally of the altcoin in early 2024 led to a healthy distribution among investors.

Citing an example of Ethereum, Santiment implied that in many cases, a majority of the supply can also be used in staking or governance which require last deposits from validators. One such instance is ETH 2.0 which has locked 35.4% of the available supply of the cryptocurrency.

The members of the crypto space commented that if a project is not decentralized, it is not a cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, another user stated that Cardano is the least centralized blockchain system in the world.