Decentralized Systems Architecture

Definition ∞ Decentralized systems architecture refers to the design of a system where control and decision-making are distributed across multiple participants rather than residing with a single central authority. These systems operate without a central point of failure, enhancing resilience and censorship resistance. Each participant holds a copy of the data or contributes to processing, fostering transparency and immutability. This design principle is fundamental to blockchain technology and distributed ledgers.
Context ∞ Decentralized systems architecture is a core tenet of the cryptocurrency space, often featured in news discussing network resilience, governance, and user autonomy. Debates frequently involve the degree of decentralization achieved by various protocols and its implications for security and scalability. Future developments focus on optimizing these architectures to maintain performance while preserving their distributed nature.