Comparative Analysis of PoS Public Chain Projects ETH2.0, Tezos, and Cosmos Data

The PoS issuance system became one of the hot topics in the market in 2020. This article will conduct a data analysis comparison of the three major star PoS projects: ETH2.0, Tezos, and Cosmos, focusing mainly on two aspects: the number of holding addresses and the amount of holdings.

ETH2.0 is a major upgrade of Ethereum, transitioning from a PoW to a PoS mechanism, expected to reduce the issuance rate from around 10% to less than 2%, lower than the inflation rate of traditional currencies, thereby enhancing the scarcity of ETH. Tezos is a high-performance underlying public chain characterized by its self-repairing feature, allowing token holders to stake or delegate for governance participation. Cosmos is a decentralized network that provides scalability and interoperability, using the Tendermint consensus algorithm.

The PoS mechanism participates in network security management through staking tokens, preventing holders from being diluted by inflation. Compared to PoW mining, PoS lowers the barrier to entry, allowing ordinary users to participate as well. However, PoS also has some issues, such as the token value being insufficient to support the coin price, etc. The launch of ETH2.0 has brought PoS back into the spotlight.

As of June 17, 2020, there are over 100 million accounts for ETH, with the top 10 addresses holding 15.93% of the tokens, the top 100 addresses holding 35.32%, and the top 1000 addresses holding 64.87%. ATOM has 31,000 addresses, with the top 10 addresses holding 88.82% of the tokens, the top 100 addresses holding 98.62%, and the top 1000 addresses holding 99.94%. Tezos has 546,000 addresses, with the top 10 addresses holding 20.71% of the tokens, the top 100 addresses holding 53.24%, and the top 1000 addresses holding 81.23%.

Comparatively, ETH performs the best in terms of decentralization. Tezos, as an emerging public chain, has a holding ratio of the top 10 and top 100 addresses comparable to ETH, demonstrating a good level of decentralization. Cosmos, due to the smaller total number of addresses, has a relatively higher concentration.

As of June 18, 2020, the dynamic staking rate of ATOM is 93.88% with an annualized yield of 9.26%. The dynamic staking rate of XTZ is 79.93% with an annualized yield of 6.94%. The annual issuance of ATOM is 1.42 times the non-staked circulating supply, while for XTZ it is 27%. The high issuance rate of ATOM may put significant pressure on token holders.

In terms of activity, 38% of ETH addresses have been active in the past year, with 76.01% of tokens being active. 56.2% of Tezos addresses have been active in the past year, with 95.17% of tokens being active. 44.25% of Cosmos addresses have been active in the past month, and 95.5% of addresses were active in 2020. Overall, Tezos and Cosmos have higher address activity.

Overall, ETH remains in the lead in terms of decentralization. Tezos performs well on multiple metrics and is expected to become a dark horse in the PoS track. The future competition among PoS public chains will focus on decentralized governance, ecosystem improvements, and innovative development. Establishing a strong developer community and identifying differentiated advantages will be key for public chain projects to maintain long-term competitiveness.