Polymesh Glossary

Decentralization refers to the level of control individual actors maintain in a distributed network. A blockchain can be considered decentralized architecturally because it is distributed across nodes and relies on consensus, but it can also be considered decentralized in terms of governance insofar as no one entity controls the network or nodes. This means no one entity can change the network protocols, turn the network off, or modify the ledger. Decentralized systems reduce reliance on central intermediaries and are argued to have better fault tolerance, stronger attack resistance, and lead to better behaviour among participants since it is harder to act in ways which benefit one while harming others.

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