The last four years were focused on fighting for the survival of the crypto industry in the United States, argues a16z’s Miles Jennings writing for Coindesk. Against a hostile administration and unprecedented lawfare, the industry fought back boldly – and won.
But now, the industry faces a more pressing task: Helping to shape the legislation and policies that will govern it for decades to come. At the core of this fight is the issue of “decentralization.”
Put simply, decentralization is the distribution of control and decision-making, eliminating the need for a central authority – ensuring more choice, transparency, security, and resilience for users. While it may sound technical, decentralization is the core premise of blockchain technologies. The benefits of decentralization include promoting competition, creativity, and collaboration while protecting freedom and value – both financial and reputational.
But why should decentralization be enshrined in law? By adopting policies that incentivize it, we can ensure three important outcomes:
First, we can guard against the big, centralized companies – from Big Tech, Big Finance, and Big Entertainment – entrenching their dominance in the burgeoning blockchain ecosystem. As we’ve seen across internet, banking, and entertainment networks, centralized control has led to consolidation and value extraction to the detriment of the people who use those products. The next iteration of the internet should focus on uplifting those in Little Tech, because the world needs more options, not the same few options.
Second, we can ensure founders and builders are rewarded for giving up unilateral control and for creating systems that function more like public infrastructure, and less like proprietary technologies. The internet rapidly evolved because entrepreneurs could build on top of shared, open protocols like email and the web. Blockchains unlock a similar, but even more expansive, world of possibilities.
Finally, we can protect consumers and promote long-term investment and building. Minimum standards of decentralization would push digital assets to function more like commodities than securities, helping to guard against volatility, scams, and the casino culture of pump-and-dump schemes – without stifling innovation. While this could be bad news for crypto hedge funds and day traders, it would be great news for those looking to build useful products on blockchains.
Without these three incentives, the allure of centralization is too powerful for builders. Even though blockchains now make decentralization more technically possible and easier to implement at scale, it’s still far too convenient for builders to make unilateral decisions, rather than build consensus; and it’s tempting to hoard profits for a few, rather than distribute them among a community.
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