The Role of Trusted Third Parties in a Decentralizing World

As blockchain and decentralized technologies gain traction, we face a profound question: Do we still need trusted third parties? At Access Ventures, our updated blockchain thesis sees trust not as something automatically removed by decentralization, but as something that can be redefined, that is made more transparent, more accountable, and more embedded in community systems rather than concentrated in institutions.

This post explores what trusted third parties mean in blockchain today, what our strategy assumes, what new developments tell us, and how we think about trade-offs.

What We Believe (and Why It Matters)

• Not all blockchain protocols are purely trustless — while Bitcoin minimizes the need for trust through cryptographic consensus, many newer systems reintroduce trust in validators, bridges, or governance. What blockchain really does is make trust explicit: it forces us to ask who we trust, what guarantees we need, and whether those are enforceable or transparent

• Institutional trust still plays a role – Whether it’s oracles, validators, custodians, or governance bodies, many blockchain systems continue to rely on intermediaries. The question is less “can we remove all trust?” and more “can we distribute it, make it legible, make it accountable?”

• Access Ventures’ blockchain strategy emphasizes innovation for social impact, undergirded by a rigorous approach: we invest in blockchain-native projects that aim for transparency, equity, and infrastructure that lowers barriers (e.g. for identity, payments, ownership). Our Digital Asset Investment Playbook has evolved to reflect a portfolio approach that balances risk and opportunity in these new systems.

What’s New: Data & Trends

Here are recent developments that shape how we think about trusted third parties now:

• Regulatory progress → The Genius Act passed Congress in July 2025 stipulates a federal framework for payment stablecoins. This strengthens oversight and trust for certain intermediaries operating in the blockchain payments space. (DLA Piper)

• Institutional adoption in financial markets → The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has launched a blockchain-powered platform for private funds, fully built for issuance to settlement. This reduces dependence on opaque intermediaries in capital markets. (Financial Times)

• Interbank settlement on public blockchains → Swiss banks (PostFinance, Sygnum, UBS) have executed binding payments using bank deposits on a public blockchain in a feasibility study, showing that even traditional institutions see value in redefining “trusted third party” roles. (Reuters)

• Tension between decentralization ideology and centralized practices → A recent study (“Centralized Trust in Decentralized Systems”) shows that many users still gravitate toward recognized institutions and intermediaries (exchanges, major projects) for trust, especially those less technical. This highlights that removing intermediaries doesn’t always remove trust dependency. (arXiv)

Trade-Offs & What to Watch Out For

• Security vs. Usability: Fully decentralized systems aim for maximal security — no reliance on intermediaries, just math and consensus. But this often comes at the cost of usability: managing keys, navigating clunky interfaces, and dealing with irreversibility. Many users opt for trusted intermediaries to simplify the experience, trading sovereignty for convenience.

• Regulation vs. Innovation: Intermediaries help satisfy regulatory demands — from AML compliance to consumer protection. But they can also become bottlenecks, imposing constraints that limit experimentation, block access, or reinforce incumbents.

• Transparency vs. Accountability: Trust-minimized protocols still require human actors. Validators, oracles, and DAO delegates often gain power without formal accountability. Transparency helps, but governance design determines whether power is distributed or concentrated.

• Decentralization vs. Institutional Weight:  Institutional entry brings credibility and capital but also risk of dominance. Large ETF sponsors (e.g. BlackRock) can amass substantial token holdings, raising questions about influence over markets, forks, or governance.

• Proof-of-Stake vs. Delegated Control: In PoS systems, staking intermediaries (like exchanges or Digital Asset Treasury companies) can concentrate voting power across multiple chains. While these services increase access and uptime, they also create meta-validators that may centralize decision-making across ecosystems.

Where Access Ventures Thinks the Balance Lies

In our view, the future of effective and equitable blockchain systems lies in:

1. Distributed intermediary models – Validators, oracles, governance bodies that are diverse, accountable, and transparent.

2. Clear governance frameworks – Both for on-chain protocols (how upgrades happen, who votes) and off-chain support (custodians, wallets).

3. Community-grounded trust – Not only large institutions, but local, grassroots, developer, identity, and user communities that participate and verify performance of systems.

4. Regtech / compliance built in – Trusted third parties with strong compliance, auditability, and legal clarity.

5. Focus on impact & inclusion – Lowering barriers for access (identity, cost, legal), enabling users to benefit rather than only extracting value.

Examples We’re Tracking

• Our Digital Asset Investment Playbook shows how we’re thinking about structuring a portfolio of blockchain instruments, balancing yield, risk, and decentralization goals.

• Industry examples of tokenization and public-blockchain settlement from LSEG and Swiss banks show real use-cases where “trusted third parties” are being reimagined. (Financial Times)

  The “trusted third party” isn’t disappearing…it’s being redefined. Now is the moment to shape that trust with transparency, inclusion, and purpose.

take the next step

If blockchain is to truly serve human flourishing, it needs more than innovation; it needs to be intentional. Whether you’re an investor, builder, or simply curious, you can help shape what comes next:

• Listen: More Than Profit – Blockchain’s Social Impact featuring Robby Greenfield and TJ Abood, to hear how Access Ventures approaches blockchain through a lens of social good and shared trust.

• Explore: Our [Digital Asset Investment Playbook] to see how we structure our blockchain thesis and evaluate where real trust, transparency, and fairness can thrive.

• Stay Informed: Follow the evolution of regulation and infrastructure from stablecoin policy and data privacy frameworks to cross-chain interoperability and governance standards.

• Be Intentional: When engaging with blockchain tools, ask who you are trusting — validators, custodians, or developers — and whether the model is opaque or accountable.

• Support Values-First Projects: Back initiatives that prioritize transparency, fairness, and community governance, not just performance or returns.

• Keep Learning: Explore new developments in digital trust — like the LSEG blockchain platform for private funds and Swiss banks’ public-blockchain settlement system.

This was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated with new content in November 2025.