Before diving into answering the question posed in this subsection of the Binance Coin Guide, it is first necessary to establish what centralized blockchains and decentralized blockchains are so that their differences may be illuminated.
A typical centralized blockchain system is the private blockchain, where it is governed and/or managed by a single group or organization and all facets of the Blockchains operation is under the control of this single entity. In contraposition to this, in a typical decentralized blockchain no one member has to know or trust anyone else. Each member in the network has a copy of the exact same data in the form of a distributed ledger. In this fashion no one node within the network can alter information held within it.
IS THE BINANCE SMART CHAIN A DECENTRALIZED BLOCKCHAIN
No, the Binance Smart Chain is not a decentralized Blockchain. Two very clear reasons exist for this conclusion.
- Directly from the words of Binance founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ),he states: "...as a new blockchain, the initial team will naturally have more influence over the strategic direction of its growth. We believe this is a good thing for a young chain and will allow faster decision making and a higher degree of efficiency." [Zhao, C. "CZ on Centralization Vs, Decentralization". https://www.binance.com/en/blog/301982828007075840/cz-on-centralization-vs-decentralization. (Accessed June 19, 2021)].
- There is a highly limited number of nodes (21) used by the Binance Smart Chain to validate transactions and create new blocks for the Blockchain. This centralization is made worse by the fact that each node operator peforms its duties under the direction and control of Binance, are appointed by the authority of Binance, and serve at the sole pleasure of Binance who may remove any node operator at any time and for any reason.
CONCLUSION
As so much control is exercised by Binance in the operation of the Binance Smart Chain, it can not be classified as decentralized Blockchain. The degree of control by the single entity, Binance, over the Smart Chain's operations render it a centralized Blockchain.