Hi professor @yousafharoonkhan, I am @ononiwujoel one of your students in Crypto Academy and a member of the steemit platform. This is my homework submission post from your lecture Task 2 and I'll be writing on the question 2.

(2) Define decentralization. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of a decentralized system. In what areas of life can a decentralized blockchain be helpful? (write in own words)

Introduction

Decentralization became a popular topic just recently after the innovation of cryptocurrencies in the past decade even though decentralized systems has been in existence in different forms since time immemorial although the opposite which is the centralized systems have always been more popular and understood.

Centralization has been very common and is used in almost every form of organisations, from political to educational, religious, business firms and financial to mention but a few. So due to it's popularity and acceptance by so many organisations many people have adapted to the system and very few people were thinking towards decentralized systems until the invention of blockchain technology which was mainly based on the decentralized system.

With the launch of blockchain technology, many people especially in the crypto industry started to understand and appreciate the decentralized system due to the many benefits and autonomy it provides for traders. And before long we started seeing decentralized social media like steemit, decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and other organisations based on decentralized systems and these has proven to be even better than centralized systems which we have been used to.

In the next few paragraphs I'll be fully explaining what decentralized system is all about to the best of my knowledge

Define Decentralization

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_{image illustration of decentralized vs centralized}

Decentralized can simply be defined as a system where power or authority is distributed among all the members in the system without any central authority that controls the system. It is the direct opposite of centralization.

Decentralization has many beneficial attributes of which the most pronounced is the decision making power it gives to members of the system and thereby making everyone able to run his business according to his own rules and not having to obey rules forced on him by any central authority. In other words, it makes every member his own boss

We all have been members of centralized systems and we know how difficult it can be sometimes to work in a centralized system especially when we have contrary opinion to those of the central authority and most times we end up being punished by the authorities when we try to express our contrary opinions maybe by blocking the account, suspending or banning him, especially in centralized social media platforms. This sometimes makes people feel being controlled and suffocated and this has been a concern for a long time until the invention of decentralized social media where no one gets blocked for expressing his contrary views because there is actually no central authority to block him.

Another area where decentralization should be appreciated is in the financial systems and crypto market where the limitations set up by banks and other finance institutions have been broken by decentralization. Decentralized system allow traders to fully control their funds and also trade directly to buyers without banks or any other Middleman very efficiently using the blockchain technology which is known for its autonomity and safety during transactions. And thereby making every trader self-sufficient and fully in control of his business.

Advantages of Decentralized System

• Freedom to make decisions:
  Decentralized systems give full freedom to users to make decisions that concerns their accounts or business without any interference or rules. This is obtainable in all decentralized systems, including decentralized social media and decentralized exchanges.

• Topnotch Security:
  Decentralized systems are known for the high level of security they provide to users. Especially in cryptocurrency where the blockchain is used to store user data and all transactions information making it impossible to be hacked or manipulated by anyone.

• Distribution of Power:
  Unlike the usual centralized systems where there is always a central authority that controls all the activities in the system in decentralized system every user has power over his own business and account to make his own rules.

• Transparency:
  The high level of transparency in decentralized systems cannot be overemphasised, especially in cryptocurrency because every transaction details and data is recorded in the blockchain and can be seen by every user and so there is no way transactions can be manipulated or faked.

• Decentralized systems makes every user feel important and recognised, thereby creating a sense of fairness and equality to all users

• In decentralized systems, transactions are very fast and efficient due to fact that there is no middleman to influence transactions.

Disadvantages of Decentralized System

• Most times decentralized systems are used for money laundering by criminals because it allows autonomity and secrecy during transactions.

• Decentralized systems are not very popular yet and many people don't understand how it works so there are fewer businesses in them compared to centralized systems. Although this will change with time.

• Once funds are transferred in decentralized system, it cannot be reversed. So it is very dangerous to make mistakes when working with decentralized systems

Areas of life where decentralized blockchain can be helpful

Educational institutions:

In the country I live (Nigeria) there is increasing cases of fraud and fake documents in the educational sector and I believe there are similar cases in many other countries. So if the decentralized blockchain is introduced and used in keeping records of all students in the educational institutions, this problem will be solved and it will help the sector greatly.

NFTs and Internet Trading:

There are cases of people selling NFTs that don't even belong to them, and also many cases of Internet Fraud especially in my region. But with the introduction of the blockchain technology, no one will be able to sell Non-fungible tokens(NFTs) wrongly because all records of the NFT will be recorded in the blockchain and also there will be less Internet fraud when all trades are recorded in a blockchain

Payment of Bills and Tax:

If all payments of bills and taxes are done through the decentralized blockchain technology it will be much easier to know who pays taxes and who don't pay taxes which is a welcome development. And it will also make payment of other bills very efficient with proper records which cannot be manipulated by fraudulent officials. It will also solve the problem of fake taxation documents and fake bills.

Financial Institutions:

If decentralized blockchain is introduced into every financial institution, there will be a great difference because then everyone will be able to control his accounts and make transactions without limitations or interference and this will help many small-scale businesses and entrepreneurs because the banking system to large extent is stressing many people with too many rules and bills. So this will be a welcome development.

Conclusion

Having seen the many benefits decentralized system brings with it, we can all agree that this concept is a game-changer and the future of organisational structure. Decentralized system has also help us develop decentralized social network and markets which are growing rapidly daily and gaining the interest of many businesses and individuals.
I strongly believe that in a short time the world will be fully geared towards decentralized systems.

Thanks for reading, and I hope I met your expectations

Cc: Professor @yousafharoonkhan