The decentralisation lie: why most cryptos are just fake Bitcoin

Ethereum, Solana, and your favourite altcoin aren’t what you think they are. Here’s why Bitcoin is the only money that actually can’t be controlled.

Apr 09, 2025

Everyone loves to shout “decentralised” in crypto.

But here’s the truth: most of them are lying.

Decentralisation is more than a buzzword, it’s a feature, a foundation, and a fortress. And it’s incredibly hard to achieve. That’s why Bitcoin is different.

In this post, we’re going to cut through the marketing hype, expose the decentralisation theatre across the altcoin world, and show why Bitcoin is the only truly decentralised monetary network on Earth.

Let’s go.

🧠 Why decentralisation actually matters

We don’t want decentralised money just for fun.

We want it because:

We don’t want a single point of failure.
We don’t want permissioned money that a government or corporation can freeze.
We don’t want insiders changing the rules mid-game.
We don’t want the money supply manipulated to benefit elites while we work for scraps.

In short: We want freedom. And without decentralisation, there’s no such thing as free money.

🏗️ What real decentralisation doesn’t look like

If we launch a coin called ‘Algorithm’ and spin up 500,000 nodes across the globe, but we control all of them, is that decentralised?

Of course not.

That’s DINO, decentralised in name only. It’s decentralisation theatre.

Bitcoin started centralised too, on Satoshi’s computer. But over time, it spread organically, not through VC funding or corporate marketing, but through voluntary adoption and proof of work.

That’s the key difference: Bitcoin wasn’t manufactured, it emerged.

🧱 Solana and Ethereum: centralized coins wearing a mask

Take Solana. People brag about its 6,700 full nodes.

But here’s the catch:

240+ terabytes of blockchain data
256 GB RAM required
10 Gbps internet speed
12-core CPU

Translation? Only corporations can run Solana nodes. No plebs. No global South. No decentralisation.

Now look at Ethereum. It has a foundation. A road map. A living, active founder who says “It’s me. I’m the one who decides.”

That’s not decentralisation. That’s central planning with an open-source wrapper.

👀 How to spot a centralised coin in the wild

Here’s your checklist:

✅ Has a leader? (e.g., Vitalik, Hoskinson) → ❌ Not decentralised
✅ Has a headquarters or foundation? → ❌ Not decentralised
✅ Does frequent smooth, coordinated hard forks? → ❌ Not decentralised
✅ Requires high-end hardware to run a node? → ❌ Not decentralised
✅ Benefits insiders over outsiders? → ❌ Not decentralised

Bitcoin? ✅ None of the above.

💡 Why Bitcoin is different

Bitcoin is:

Permissionless.
Immutable.
Leaderless.
Founderless (Satoshi left).
Borderless.
Proof-of-work based (not proof-of-stake, where the rich rule).
Maintained by thousands of globally distributed, economically disincentivised actors. Bitcoin only has 62,725 nodes, all voluntary.

And Bitcoin doesn’t have “smooth upgrades.” Every attempted consensus change is ugly, messy, and hard, because no one controls it.

That’s not a bug. That’s the feature.

🪙 Proof of stake is proof of centralization

In Ethereum, the more coins you have, the more power you wield. If Michael Saylor had 10,000 ETH, and you had 1, he could outvote you on protocol changes.

In Bitcoin, Saylor has 528,000 BTC and you have 1, but he has zero more power over the protocol than you do.

That’s decentralisation.

That’s why ETH has been bleeding out against BTC ever since it switched from proof of work to proof of stake in 2022.

And it’s why Bitcoin keeps winning.

🌍 Bitcoin is bigger than founders, foundations, and even nation states

Bitcoin doesn’t care if you’re BlackRock or a broke student in El Salvador. The network treats you the same.

It can’t be co-opted. It can’t be seized. It can’t be changed easily. And it’s already won the money game.

It’s bigger than any one person. Bigger than governments. Bigger than corporations.

Bitcoin is the future, it’s just not evenly distributed yet.

🏁 Final thought

Real decentralisation doesn’t look like fancy websites, flashy roadmaps, or charismatic founders on stage.

It looks like boring stability.

It looks like no insiders pulling strings.

It looks like Bitcoin.

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