If you’re in the crypto community then you’re probably so sick of the world decentralization you’d like to smack me for even saying it. I get that but I also have a question. Something that I think a lot of people struggle with but are not willing to admit. Why does decentralization matter? 

It’s an honest question, I want to know. Of course there is the obvious stuff. 

  • A government or other powerful actor cannot (or will find it very difficult to) shut down a decentralized entity like Bitcoin.
  • A decentralized entity is (in theory) not under the control of something like the Fed which sets interest rates. Bitcoin’s inflation is set and will always be set. 
  • Transactions cannot be censored. If you build a smart contract on Ethereum it’s going to execute as it’s programmed to do whether a government likes it or hates it. 
  • Etc, I’m sure I’m missing some obvious ones.

These aspects of decentralization are great but I feel like it’s only scratching the surface. I think that if you can dig deeper there are even more radical benefits that either we don’t fully understand yet, or, only a small group of people understand. 

I’d like to understand these benefits, I’d like to understand how decentralization can benefit a group of people even if they’re not worried about the government censoring their transactions or shutting down their blockchain. If you read this and you have insight it it, please, tell me. I’d like to hear it.