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Concept

Architecture

Decentralization

Why it matters

Decentralization is what makes Bitcoin censorship-resistant and removes the need to trust an issuer — the entire value proposition over earlier digital cash.

What it is

The property of having no single point of control or failure. Bitcoin's ledger is maintained by a distributed network of nodes that anyone can join.

People

  • Wei Daib-money bookkeepers64
  • Nick Szabo"trusted third parties are security holes" (2001)58

Related concepts

  • Peer-to-Peer Networkrelated to76
  • b-moneyrelated to70
  • The Byzantine Generals Problemagreeing on one history with no leader is the hard problem decentralization must solve70
  • Public-Key Cryptographyrelated to58

Discussed in threads

  • PC World Article on Bitcoin / WikiLeaksdiscussed64
  • BitDNS and Generalizing Bitcoindiscussed62

Sources

  • Bitcoin white paper

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Importance

86

All connections

  • Peer-to-Peer Networkrelated to76
  • b-moneyrelated to70
  • The Byzantine Generals Problemagreeing on one history with no leader is the hard problem decentralization must solve70
  • Wei Daib-money bookkeepers64
  • PC World Article on Bitcoin / WikiLeaksdiscussed64
  • BitDNS and Generalizing Bitcoindiscussed62
  • Mt. Gox collapsesseared "not your keys, not your coins" into the culture60
  • Public-Key Cryptographyrelated to58
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