In What Way Do Merkle Trees Contribute to the Decentralization of a Network?
Merkle Trees contribute to decentralization by enabling efficient, trustless verification of data. Because of the logarithmic scaling of Merkle Proofs, any user with limited resources (a lightweight wallet) can verify the inclusion of a transaction without relying on a central authority or downloading the full blockchain.
This low barrier to verification allows more participants to act as independent verifiers, reducing the reliance on full nodes and fostering a more decentralized and resilient network structure.