>"To deliver a peer-to-peer alternative to cash that, through decentralization, did away with the need for trust in financial institutions, which the 2008 crisis showed to be unscrupulous, and often corrupt."
The sort of activity which led to the financial crisis would not be mitigated by the establishment of a decentralized currency. Decentralization would not do away with the need for financial institutions (or the toxic incentives that can drive them and the ecosystem in which they exist).
The USD is pretty decentralized already. Sure the money supply itself is centralized, but the USD is a functioning currency because all people who accept and deal in dollars accept the fact that the dollar is a currency. We're all decentralized nodes in the Fiat network.
The sort of activity which led to the financial crisis would not be mitigated by the establishment of a decentralized currency. Decentralization would not do away with the need for financial institutions (or the toxic incentives that can drive them and the ecosystem in which they exist).
The USD is pretty decentralized already. Sure the money supply itself is centralized, but the USD is a functioning currency because all people who accept and deal in dollars accept the fact that the dollar is a currency. We're all decentralized nodes in the Fiat network.