> Ethereum is currently decentralized because of the initial POW distribution Ethereum was launched with a 100% 'premine' of 72M coins, printed out of thin air

> Ethereum is currently decentralized because of the initial POW distribution Ethereum was launched with a 100% 'premine' of 72M coins, printed out of thin air and handed to the founders to keep or sell as they decided. Since then another 44M have been mined, though it's not clear how much of that mining was also by insiders who influenced the work function's hardware compatibility or protected their hardware investment by controlling when/if the work function was changed or when mining was discontinued.