People can say otherwise but Bitcoin is by far the most decentralized cryptocurrency…
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When people talk of cryptocurrency, they usually think that all cryptocurrencies are decentralized. While most cryptos are made in that vision, not all live up to that distinction.
In simple terms, decentralization refers to the ability to perform financial transactions without a third-party intermediary overlooking the transaction. But there is more to it than just that.
**No central authority:** Cryptocurrency is maintained by a network of distributed computers, and this network is open to all. The same goes for data, there are no central storage or data servers for a decentralized currency.
**Decision making**: The decision-making is based on the *consensus mechanism* that takes into account everyone involved in the network. It is usually not controlled by one leader or a small group of powerful individuals.
**Issuance:** The issuance of a decentralized currency is often dictated by the defining parameters which were drafted during its inception. The beauty of it is that it cannot be manipulated or tampered with.
**Use:**
>*Anyone and everyone can use a decentralized currency.*
There is no need for approval, ID checks, or geographical restrictions to use a decentralized currency. It is open to everyone and anyone around the globe.
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Bitcoin is one of the few currencies that fulfill all the above criteria.
Bitcoin does not have a single person or team working on its development. Instead, there is a network of developers that follow a consensus mechanism to decide the network’s future.
Bitcoin nodes are spread out all across the globe, although there is a higher concentration of them in the USA and Germany.
Bitcoin mining is open to all but the highly competitive process that does make a few mining giants more powerful and profitable. But surprisingly compared to other cryptocurrencies it is still more distributed.
The *volume of BTC traded* in exchanges stands at $34 Billion, putting it in the 2nd spot in the top cryptocurrencies traded by volume in a 24H period.
While the *total BTC addresses* currently stand at 918K.
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Source: [Which Is The Most Decentralized Cryptocurrency?](https://ift.tt/owWDNrlcryptocurrency-6397126c9097)
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