The meaning of the term "decentralization" has been shifting for more than a decade.
That process started roughly during the first [ICO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_Coin_Offering ) boom in 2013-2014 when people figured out that they can sell blockchain tokens without building a decentralized blockchain network. Most of these projects were short-lived scams, but some of them tried to pretend they are not, and thus "progressive decentralization" was born. This is a more elaborate form of scam, where a project starts as completely centralized, but makes a promise to decentralize over time. Of course, that never happens, because they either run out of funding, or become big enough to not care about the old promise.
This type of scam was so ubiquitous that an entire generation of developers was raised with progressive decentralization mentality. And this is where Bluesky comes from. They re-branded their blockchain as did:plc directory, and made a couple of other tweaks, but ultimately it is the same type of scam.
So it is not surprising that "decentralization" is not seen anymore as useful term there. They're big and important now, it's time to move on.
silverpill
npub19y…5wysk
2025-05-19 19:05:36 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…x43f
Author Public Key
npub19yg7mshq9vdtvvcm48svw03cmzewue4jug62cltnleh3y78khz5sm5wyskSeen on
wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2025-05-19 19:05:36 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "The meaning of the term \"decentralization\" has been shifting for more than a decade.\n\nThat process started roughly during the first [ICO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_Coin_Offering ) boom in 2013-2014 when people figured out that they can sell blockchain tokens without building a decentralized blockchain network. Most of these projects were short-lived scams, but some of them tried to pretend they are not, and thus \"progressive decentralization\" was born. This is a more elaborate form of scam, where a project starts as completely centralized, but makes a promise to decentralize over time. Of course, that never happens, because they either run out of funding, or become big enough to not care about the old promise.\n\nThis type of scam was so ubiquitous that an entire generation of developers was raised with progressive decentralization mentality. And this is where Bluesky comes from. They re-branded their blockchain as did:plc directory, and made a couple of other tweaks, but ultimately it is the same type of scam.\n\nSo it is not surprising that \"decentralization\" is not seen anymore as useful term there. They're big and important now, it's time to move on.",
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