Is Decentralisation a Myth?
One core ethos of decentralised finance (DeFi) is “trust,” which can be described as the ultimate belief that individuals own, control, and have full access to their finances. The limitations of traditional finance, particularly the lack of complete ownership over personal finances, have driven people to explore alternative solutions, with decentralised finance being one of the few viable options. Following the 2008 global economic crisis, many realised that traditional finance is not a secure safety net but rather a constraint on their lives.
When Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper, he provided a solution to this pressing issue and offered an alternative to traditional finance. In his words, he stated, “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” This eliminated the barrier of third-party intermediaries and restored ultimate control to individuals.
CEX vs. DEX
DeFi is a growing industry, and the true realisation of its core ethos lies in eliminating entities that have primary access to people’s money. Centralised exchanges (CEXs) are institution-based companies with centralised authority that oversee the efficient operation of their services and can directly influence users’ funds or transactions. CEXs like Binance, https://t.co/ACK0wXFVrj, Coinbase, and others still dominate the market, accounting for $5.4 trillion in trading volume in Q1 of 2025 alone, compared to the peak volume of decentralised exchanges (DEXs), which reached only $200 billion in 2021. Despite the institutional control that people seek to avoid in traditional finance, many still trust centralised exchanges, which operate under institutional oversight and management.
Chain Limitations in Decentralisation
True decentralisation can arguably be achieved more effectively through a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism than other consensus mechanisms. Bitcoin remains the only major blockchain that fully operates on a PoW framework, supported by over 15,000 nodes and thousands of miners, as recorded in 2025. This structure makes its attestation and throughput more decentralised compared to most major chains, which rely on Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanisms. PoS often resembles a plutocratic system where a few wealthy stakeholders govern and decide the fate of many. For example, in the case of the Cetus hack on the Sui blockchain, validators promptly froze transactions worth $162 million from two wallets belonging to the hackers, preventing them from escaping with the full $200 million. This incident has sparked widespread debate about the true nature of decentralisation.
WHY MOST CHAINS ARE NOT FULLY DECENTRALISED?
1. Psychological Factors: Human beings are often driven by fear, which shapes decision-making to prevent undesirable outcomes or address issues after they occur. Consequently, achieving trust and security remains a significant challenge for blockchains, leading them to prioritise security, often resulting in a partial compromise of trust.
2. Regulatory Challenges: Blockchain networks face a complex landscape of global regulations shaped by concerns over investor protection, financial stability, anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing, and consumer safety. Regulatory bodies, such as the SEC, MiCA, and other jurisdictional authorities, enforce strict vetting and monitoring of blockchain operations before approving.
To it but now,he writes when his thoughts vault is filled and anything he releases touches anyone that cares to read.
Do yourself a favor of getting in bed with his writings and you will be productive with your sleep…
One thing about this author is that he writes to free his mind but all his thoughts are always problem solving for people that care about his thoughts.
He used to write more often when long writing was introduced back and people were reading more than normal meaning…
For all it worth, I am always a fan of when what I want keep me on toe or make me work up myself to get it,human tends to lose value in what they get easily.
The structure of the order of things @arc and how people av been having fun while learning and building is the juice
Information is the foundation of human knowledge.
What we know, what we’ll know, and the decisions we make are all shaped by the information we collect and how we transform it into data.
One lesson this journey has taught me:
Every expert was once a beginner.
The right guidance, a structured learning path, consistency, and patience can take you much farther than you think.
The Nigerian Regional chapter 🇳🇬 will be having its Region Kickoff Mixer today.
Join us as we bring together Architects, top builders, founders, investors and DeFi teams as we unpack cross-border payments, Arc and what’s coming next.
Seats are limited to maintain an intimate setting for insightful and high value conversations.
In Lagos? Join us today!
https://t.co/umy6W8Vsha
@JerryOjumah has always been an excellent tutor and he has championed many cause that brought about great impacts and seeing what people have been saying about his @arc event in Lagos, I know the man can’t be associated with something unless it’s the real thing…Big up king