How do the rich become gradually richer under PoS? I'm flabbergasted by the level of math education.
Assume we have 2 validators in the network; the first one owns 90% of the network, the second one owns 10%. Lets call them Whale and Shrimpy, respectively.
To make the numbers round let's assume total circulating supply of ETH is 100 initially and that the yield resulting from being a validator is 10% per year. After the first year, 10 new ETH will have been minted. Whale would have gotten 9 ETH, and Shrimpy would have gotten 1 ETH. OP is assuming that as 9 is bigger than 1, Whale is getting richer faster than Shrimpy. But, let's look at the final situation globally.
At year 0:
Total ETH circulating supply: 100 ETH
Whale has 90 ETH. Owns 90% of the network.
Shrimpy has 10 ETH. Owns 10% of the network.
At year 1:
Total ETH circulating supply: 110 ETH
Whale has 99 ETH. Owns 90% of the network.
Shrimpy has 11 ETH. Owns 10% of the network.
Whale has exactly the same network ownership after validating for 1 whole year, the network is not centralizing at all! The rich are not getting richer any faster than the poor.
TL;DR: Friends don't let friends skip elementary math classes.
Assume we have 2 validators in the network; the first one owns 90% of the network, the second one owns 10%. Lets call them Whale and Shrimpy, respectively.
To make the numbers round let's assume total circulating supply of ETH is 100 initially and that the yield resulting from being a validator is 10% per year. After the first year, 10 new ETH will have been minted. Whale would have gotten 9 ETH, and Shrimpy would have gotten 1 ETH. OP is assuming that as 9 is bigger than 1, Whale is getting richer faster than Shrimpy. But, let's look at the final situation globally.
At year 0:
Total ETH circulating supply: 100 ETH
Whale has 90 ETH. Owns 90% of the network.
Shrimpy has 10 ETH. Owns 10% of the network.
At year 1:
Total ETH circulating supply: 110 ETH
Whale has 99 ETH. Owns 90% of the network.
Shrimpy has 11 ETH. Owns 10% of the network.
Whale has exactly the same network ownership after validating for 1 whole year, the network is not centralizing at all! The rich are not getting richer any faster than the poor.
TL;DR: Friends don't let friends skip elementary math classes.