Ethereum’s popularization of smart contracts marked the revolutionary shift that proved consumers and businesses alike could hold more power without the intervention of centralized institutions. This allowed participants to play a more active role in their finances. Decentralization has grown as a movement that spreads far beyond finance, as online communities have sprouted across the web, social media platforms have begun to leverage blockchain, and even identity systems were looked on in a new light.     

But what’s the next big thing in decentralization?

For the answer, look to growth in global cooperation technologies and a shift to communities that centers around their users. 

Decentralized ledger technologies, by their very nature, build collaborative relationships between users — a feat not often seen, and even more rarely prioritized, in rigidly established institutions and systems. By focusing on community first, over legacy institutions, technology can empower each consumer to express more agency over their data, information, decisions, and assets.

This notion of cooperation lies at the heart of the decentralization movement and is helping to steward a new generation toward a future that is both more connected and more autonomous. 

What is Decentralized Cooperation? 

Decentralized cooperation is the next phase of human collaboration.

Decentralized cooperation comprises three key pillars of support — distributed systems, secure computing, and cryptography. Together, these elements form a strong foundation on which more communal and accessible services and tools can be built. 

Decentralized cooperation can leverage blockchain technologies to ensure the utilization of a broader decentralized ecosystem. While the most common examples include cryptocurrency and NFTs, the scope of blockchain extends far beyond these more famous use cases. 

Here is just a sampling of the many uses decentralization has within our society and communities:

1. Better Creative Licensing Options: Licensing has always been a challenge for creatives, especially those in the visual art and music spaces. Decentralized ledger technologies enable artists to build smart contracts into their work, allowing them to sell their work directly to the public without relying on third-party platforms that drain a significant portion of their revenue. Instead, artists get paid first and can even receive larger royalties directly from their work, via additional mechanisms like licenses and re-sales.

    

2. Enhanced Business Operations: Companies of all sizes and across all industries have traditionally relied on centralized applications to keep their businesses operational. Blockchain allows modern businesses to build digitally-native applications, such as payment systems, that can operate without traditional intermediaries — or the fees they charge. Moreover, the rise of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) proves that the entire business space can be more democratic, with power more evenly distributed among stakeholders.

    

3. Improved Access: Unlike traditional tools and institutions, decentralized technologies like blockchain provide many opportunities to remove barriers to access. While there is a learning curve that comes with operating these technologies, anyone in the world can access blockchain with the right resources, helping many communities side-step time-consuming and widely inaccessible centralized services.

    

4. Censorship Resistance: With questions around the morality of censorship and freedom of information taking a strong position in public discourse today, it’s never been a better time to consider how decentralization can facilitate an environment that enables users to speak freely. As well as facilitating free discourse, blockchain networks can also prevent outside interference, for example, interference from governments or large businesses. With decentralization, we can build spaces where people can share their knowledge freely for the betterment of the entire community, ensuring all participants have fair and equal access to resources and support. 

The Decentralized Cooperation Foundation Supports Human Ingenuity

At Decentralized Cooperation Foundation, or DCF for short, it is our mission to help build the vital mechanisms for this new era of human cooperation. 

With a distinct focus on advocacy and community support, DCF is taking strides to cultivate confidence in blockchain technologies and fund innovative developers – all with the goal of helping to facilitate a future where decentralized cooperation technologies are accessible to all. 

Learn more about the DCF today and join us on our quest to support a global decentralized ecosystem.