Is BTC truly decentralized if every transaction is 100% tracked by the USG?
Discussion
Transparency and decentralization are different things
No.
They’re.
Not.
If it’s 100% transparent and the gov’t can easily figure out who I am, they’re still going to show up with guns if they don’t like my transactions or if I don’t pay my taxes.
I think you’re confusing decentralization with either private or censorship resistance.
A system’s decentralization does not hinge on its opaqueness
I’m not.
BTC’s algo can be decentralized, which allows for our trust in PoW.
But if that decentralization doesn’t extend to privacy, and every transaction can be tracked, where you know the government will track it and send men with guns to your house if you don’t pay them, then it’s simply decentralized PoW and centralized PoC (point of control).
I still don’t see how privacy an arbitrary amount of privacy is a prerequisite for decentralization. At worst one can claim lack of privacy MAY lead to centralization.
The ability of the government or anyone for that matter to physically harm you is not evidence that a system is centralized.
The fat that they have to come to your door and do violence to you evidence Bitcoin is decentralized; otherwise l, they would take your money or censor you remotely.
We can agree to disagree about the definition of decentralization, but we agree making it easier for governments to harm you is bad.
fact*