After reading some articles from
https://endthefud.org/, I am still not fully convinced that Bitcoin is decentralized and without Bitcoin being decentralized, it carries little to no value.
Despite many supporters claiming that no government has control over the Bitcoin network or price (and that even if they do have control, they wouldn't hurt it due to innnovation), this seems to be proven untrue time and time again. For example, over the years, everyone labelled China threats as FUD and that they would never completely ban Bitcoin. Earlier this year China banned BTC mining, and over half of the entire network shut offline in the following weeks.
Also most recently with the Infrastructure Bill, the broad language used to define a “broker”, is a major blow to decentralization.
The arguments in the endthefud article don't seem to hold up. The articles claim that governments can't and won't cripple Bitcoin's decentralisation and even if they try to ban it, other governments will embrace it. While the second part is true, we're starting to see first hand that the first part is not with China turning their back to crypto. And now US and UK also starting to turn their back to crypto. If Bitcoin can be crippled with a little tax provision in a bill, is it really going to stand the test of time as being decentralised? And if it's not decentralised, what other value does it have?
According to your statement, China has shut down half of its mining plants. What impact does that have on Bitcoin? It's just about short-term price fluctuations. There is no need to amplify the influence of China's policies. On the contrary, China's influence will become smaller and smaller.
How do you understand decentralization?
Compared with the existing centralized electronic cash system (online payment system), Bitcoin is the complete opposite:
The currency issuance of the online payment system is centralized, and the issuance of Bitcoin is decentralized;
The currency flow of the online payment system is centralized, and the transaction of Bitcoin is decentralized;
The online payment system maps currencies in the physical world, and Bitcoin does not map any existing currencies;
The online payment system itself does not issue currency. Bitcoin is issued out of thin air in the digital world.
In terms of decentralization, the Bitcoin system has reached its limit. The initial stage of decentralization is automatic, that is, it runs automatically according to rules set by people, while the advanced stage of decentralization is autonomous, that is, fully autonomous and spontaneous. As an electronic cash system, the Bitcoin system has reached the ultimate state of decentralization :
As a currency application, not only is its transaction autonomous, its issuance is also autonomous.
As a computer network, it is completely decentralized, not just a distributed network.
As an organization, it is completely community autonomous, and there is no need for a leader to coordinate.
Decentralization is at the core of the blockchain thinking model, and Bitcoin has achieved the ultimate decentralization.