Decentralization Is a Question of Scale

When people talk about decentralization, they often act as if there are only two states: centralized or decentralized. I think that is too simple.

Almost every centralized system contains decentralized parts. And almost every decentralized system forms new centers inside itself. You can see that in Bitcoin, in the internet, and in human groups. So the real question is not whether something is decentralized, but at what level you are looking.

That is what I always liked about the old Sphere idea. A person is a unit. A group is a unit. A city, a company, a state too. Everything is made of smaller units and is itself part of something larger. If you take that seriously, decentralization stops being a slogan and becomes a structural problem.

That is also why the usual web3 romanticism often feels weak to me. Not every center is bad. Some central coordination is useful, and sometimes necessary. The better question is this: where do we need trust, and where should we reduce it technically or institutionally?

For me, the future is not absolute decentralization. It is systems that are honest about where power sits, and that keep this power as small, as checkable, and as movable as possible.