Understanding decentralization is the first step to understanding its benefits. So what is decentralization? There is no common definition but to put it in the most basic terms, it’s basically the process of distributing power away from a central authority or location.
The term ‘decentralized’ is often used in the digital world, especially in the crypto space. Technologies such as Blockchain are designed to be decentralized. Blockchain consist of layers and each layer is defined by an open protocol that can exchange and make use of data where anyone can build products and services on.
Bitcoin is the first and most popular application of the Blockchain and this technology has been adopted in different areas such as cryptocurrencies. Decentralized applications and blockchain based networks could make it hard for governments to control or regulate. So with this in mind, Blockchains cannot be controlled by any one person or organization, there is no infrastructural central point of failure, but they are logically centralized as in there is one commonly agreed state and the entire system behaves like one supercomputer.
Why say Yes to Decentralization?
In general, decentralization grants transparency, increased security, consensus, higher speed, and efficiency, but to break it down, the below points will make it clear to see the key features of decentralization.
· Firstly, they are less likely to have faults. Having a tolerance to faults means that decentralized applications or systems have fewer chances to accidentally fail due to the fact that they rely on many separate and specific components.
· Secondly, decentralized applications have more resistance to attacks. They are harder and expensive to destroy or manipulate because they lack a single sensitive central point that can be attacked or manipulated.
· Thirdly, it is much more difficult for any participant on a decentralized system to cheat or act illegally in any way that will benefit them at the expense of others on that decentralized system. This proves that they are collusion resistant.
Decentralized Applications and the Benefits
These are applications that run by many users on a decentralized network with trustless protocols. Data or other information can be stored on the Blockchain and these DApps are designed to avoid single point failures.
The advantage of decentralized applications is the distribution of essential components that improves the aforementioned fault tolerance and making it practically impossible to attack such a network. They are fast, reliable and secure applications that provide efficient and affordable ways of processing and storing big data.
DApps have and will continue to play an important role in the technology industry with the many advantages they present. Businesses around the globe can enhance their operations with these applications.
How are Semi-Decentralized Applications Going to Shape the Globe?
Many applications aim to become decentralized — having data stored on a Blockchain — but they may go through a partly decentralized stage, where some of the data is not stored on a blockchain and is only accessible via the users own personal device. This is called semi-decentralization.
This method of being semi-decentralized will play a large role in the crypto space, as it will help newly developed networks slowly transition into a fully decentralized network and blockchain-based operating application.
A prime example is DIW, a decentralized identification infrastructure which enables account holders to safeguard their virtual life while accessing a series of DApps via its network. Networks like DIW, that are currently semi-decentralized, have set the foundations to become fully decentralized.
DIW is currently developing a mobile app that will be semi-decentralized by default but will also give the user the option to experience full decentralization. All users’ data, will be encrypted and decentralized saved. The default semi-decentralized option will save the hashes on the DIW cloud. In order to be fully decentralized, the user will have to choose the option to securely store the hashes on the Ethereum Network.
The Bottom Line
To conclude, it’s good to note that decentralized and semi-decentralized networks and applications are a technology on a rise. Developers around the world strive to make networks and applications more open or transparent, they work hard on security to keep hackers at arm’s length and they try to remove any intermediaries to create a faster and more efficient network for trading or sharing any form of data.
Although this is a new type of technology with high potential, it’s a fact that these apps are becoming a trend and you will come across them more often, as these are becoming more significant to developers.
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