# Decentralized Governance

Nearly 13 years ago on October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published a whitepaper on Bitcoin (BTC) as a “peer-to-peer version of cryptocurrency”. The first cryptocurrency was implemented with a consensus mechanism known as “proof of work” (PoW) that allows networks to agree on which transactions are legitimate without third-party involvement. Three years later, a new approach called “proof of stake” (PoS) was proposed to address the inefficiencies of the PoW consensus algorithm and reduce the number of computational resources required to run a blockchain network. During those 13 years of existence, we have seen the rise and fall since the price of initial coin offerings in 2017. This has become “an alternative means of obtaining funding for projects using the new, growing digital financial marketplace for tokens”. The remarkable growth of the decentralized finance, or DeFi, in 2020 is transforming rusty financial systems and paving the way for a new kind of finance. The immense popularity of unusable tokens, or NFTs, has taken the crypto sector by storm in 2021; and the continued growth of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) worldwide. The core of Blockchain technology revolution has become one of the most discussed topics not only in the financial sector but beyond. Blockchains are being implemented in business use cases, charity activities, global environmental crises, healthcare and longevity, government services, etc. Meanwhile, not all public blockchains are equally decentralized – or are they? Some experts say that since Bitcoin is not controlled by any centralized entity and was built by the stage name Satoshi Nakamoto (later disappeared), it can be considered the most decentralized network. On the other hand, it is also criticized for being the least decentralized one. However, to be fair, even co-creator Vitalik Buterin does not have control over Ethereum. Thus, the true nature of Blockchain is decentralization, which is increasingly supported by the community. In particular, the emergence of DAOs shows the great need for transparency and decentralization
