IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/arx/papers/2206.08401.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is decentralized finance actually decentralized? A social network analysis of the Aave protocol on the Ethereum blockchain

Author

Listed:
  • Ziqiao Ao
  • Lin William Cong
  • Gergely Horvath
  • Luyao Zhang

Abstract

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has the potential to disrupt centralized finance by validating peer-to-peer transactions through tamper-proof smart contracts, thus significantly lowering the transaction cost charged by financial intermediaries. However, the actual realization of peer-to-peer transactions and the levels and effects of decentralization are largely unknown. Our research pioneers a blockchain network study that applies social network analysis to measure the level, dynamics, and impacts of decentralization in DeFi token transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. First, we find a significant core-periphery structure in the AAVE token transaction network where the cores include the two largest centralized crypto exchanges. Second, we provide evidence that multiple network features consistently characterize decentralization dynamics. Finally, we document that a more decentralized network significantly predicts a higher return and lower volatility of the decentralized market of AAVE tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. We point out that our approach is seminal for inspiring future extensions related to the facets of application scenarios, research questions, and methodologies on the mechanics of blockchain decentralization.

Suggested Citation

  • Ziqiao Ao & Lin William Cong & Gergely Horvath & Luyao Zhang, 2022. "Is decentralized finance actually decentralized? A social network analysis of the Aave protocol on the Ethereum blockchain," Papers 2206.08401, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2206.08401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2206.08401
    File Function: Latest version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kartik Anand & Prasanna Gai & Sujit Kapadia & Simon Brennan & Matthew Willison, 2012. "A network model of financial system resilience," Bank of England working papers 458, Bank of England.
    2. Anand, Kartik & Gai, Prasanna & Kapadia, Sujit & Brennan, Simon & Willison, Matthew, 2013. "A network model of financial system resilience," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 219-235.
    3. Di Maggio, Marco & Kermani, Amir & Song, Zhaogang, 2017. "The value of trading relations in turbulent times," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 266-284.
    4. Polovnikov, Kirill & Kazakov, Vlad & Syntulsky, Sergey, 2020. "Core–periphery organization of the cryptocurrency market inferred by the modularity operator," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 540(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. K Saengchote & C Castro-Iragorri, 2023. "Network Topology in Decentralized Finance," Documentos de Trabajo 20782, Universidad del Rosario.
    2. Xiao, Yunpeng & Deng, Bufan & Chen, Siqi & Zhou, Kyrie Zhixuan & LC, RAY & Zhang, Luyao & Tong, Xin, 2023. ""Centralized or Decentralized?": Concerns and Value Judgments of Stakeholders in the Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Market," OSF Preprints evz4p, Center for Open Science.
    3. repec:osf:osfxxx:6ceuz_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Yan, Tao & Li, Shengnan & Kraner, Benjamin & Zhang, Luyao & Tessone, Claudio J., 2024. "Analyzing Reward Dynamics and Decentralization in Ethereum 2.0: An Advanced Data Engineering Workflow and Comprehensive Datasets for Proof-of-Stake Incentives," OSF Preprints 6ceuz, Center for Open Science.
    5. repec:osf:osfxxx:evz4p_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Yunpeng Xiao & Bufan Deng & Siqi Chen & Kyrie Zhixuan Zhou & Ray LC & Luyao Zhang & Xin Tong, 2023. ""Centralized or Decentralized?": Concerns and Value Judgments of Stakeholders in the Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Market," Papers 2311.10990, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nikolaus Hautsch & Julia Schaumburg & Melanie Schienle, 2015. "Financial Network Systemic Risk Contributions," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 19(2), pages 685-738.
    2. Anand, Kartik & Gai, Prasanna & Marsili, Matteo, 2012. "Rollover risk, network structure and systemic financial crises," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1088-1100.
    3. Mammen, Enno & Rothe, Christoph & Schienle, Melanie, 2016. "Semiparametric Estimation With Generated Covariates," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(5), pages 1140-1177, October.
    4. Domenico Di Gangi & Fabrizio Lillo & Davide Pirino, 2015. "Assessing systemic risk due to fire sales spillover through maximum entropy network reconstruction," Papers 1509.00607, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2018.
    5. Vasilis Hatzopoulos & Giulia Iori & Rosario N. Mantegna & Salvatore Miccich� & Michele Tumminello, 2015. "Quantifying preferential trading in the e-MID interbank market," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 693-710, April.
    6. Irena Vodenska & Alexander P. Becker & Di Zhou & Dror Y. Kenett & H. Eugene Stanley & Shlomo Havlin, 2016. "Community Analysis of Global Financial Markets," Risks, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Cheridito, Patrick & Horst, Ulrich & Kupper, Michael & Pirvu, Traian A., 2011. "Equilibrium pricing in incomplete markets under translation invariant preferences," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2011-083, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    8. Thomas Lux, 2020. "On the distribution of links in financial networks: structural heterogeneity and functional form," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1019-1053, March.
    9. Reyns, Ariane & Hudon, Marek & Schoors, Koen, 2025. "For better or for worse: How Mutual Credit Systems bolster resilience of small firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    10. Luc Bauwens & Christian M. Hafner & Diane Pierret, 2013. "Multivariate Volatility Modeling Of Electricity Futures," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 743-761, August.
    11. Bocart, Fabian Y.R.P. & Hafner, Christian M., 2012. "Econometric analysis of volatile art markets," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 56(11), pages 3091-3104.
    12. Giansante, Simone & Manfredi, Sabato & Markose, Sheri, 2023. "Fair immunization and network topology of complex financial ecosystems," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 612(C).
    13. Chen, Hong & Liu, Bei & Li, Yi & Cai, Yujie, 2022. "The relationship between negative life events and resilience among Chinese service employees: Nonlinearly moderated by lifestyle habits," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2011-056 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Yong Tang & Jason Jie Xiong & Zi-Yang Jia & Yi-Cheng Zhang, 2018. "Complexities in Financial Network Topological Dynamics: Modeling of Emerging and Developed Stock Markets," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-31, November.
    16. Adrian Alter & Ben R. Craig & Peter Raupach, 2015. "Centrality-Based Capital Allocations," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 11(3), pages 329-377, June.
    17. Gupta, Aparna & Wang, Runzu & Lu, Yueliang, 2021. "Addressing systemic risk using contingent convertible debt – A network analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 290(1), pages 263-277.
    18. Iori, Giulia & Mantegna, Rosario N. & Marotta, Luca & Miccichè, Salvatore & Porter, James & Tumminello, Michele, 2015. "Networked relationships in the e-MID interbank market: A trading model with memory," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 98-116.
    19. Arnd Hübsch & Ursula Walther, 2017. "The impact of network inhomogeneities on contagion and system stability," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 254(1), pages 61-87, July.
    20. Edoardo Gaffeo & Lucio Gobbi, 2022. "Correction to: Achieving financial stability during a liquidity crisis: a multi‑objective approach," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(1), pages 100-100, March.
    21. Opeoluwa Banwo & Fabio Caccioli & Paul Harrald & Francesca Medda, 2016. "The Effect Of Heterogeneity On Financial Contagion Due To Overlapping Portfolios," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(08), pages 1-20, December.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2206.08401. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: arXiv administrators (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arxiv.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.