The "Leave Test" of Blockchain Projects: An Important Tool for Assessing Decentralization

The founder of Ethereum once proposed an interesting concept in his blog - "Leaving the Test". This test aims to evaluate the true degree of Decentralization and autonomous operation capability of blockchain projects. The core question is: if the project team and infrastructure suddenly disappear, can the project continue to run?

This test involves multiple aspects of consideration:

1. Project Development: Is the code open source? Is there an active community that can take over development?
2. Economic Model: Does the project have a sustainable operating model and application scenarios?
3. Community Governance: Is there a decentralized decision-making mechanism?

The importance of "leaving the test" lies in its ability to reveal the actual dependence of a project on centralized infrastructure. A truly decentralized project should be able to continue operating after the core team leaves; otherwise, it may face questions about its long-term survival and value.

This concept is closely related to the decentralization principle of Blockchain. As early as 2017, the founder of Ethereum elaborated on the three dimensions of decentralization: architecture, politics, and logic. He emphasized that the advantages of decentralization include: improved fault tolerance, enhanced resistance to attacks, and prevention of collusion of interests.

Taking Bitcoin as an example, although the identity of its founder remains a mystery, the network continues to develop, which to some extent has passed the "leave test." In contrast, many Layer 2 projects still rely on centralized auxiliary mechanisms (Training Wheels) to varying degrees, reflecting their need for human intervention.

Based on this idea, the industry has begun to attempt to develop "leaving testing" into a risk rating tool to evaluate the real status of various decentralized applications. This assessment is not only applicable to Blockchain networks but can also be extended to areas such as Web3 wallets, games, and DeFi.

Overall, "Leaving the Test" provides us with an important framework for thinking, helping us better understand and assess the degree of decentralization of Blockchain projects. It emphasizes the importance of power dispersion and calls for the establishment of consensus standards to promote the entire industry towards a more decentralized direction.