Decentralization has its downsides. For example, it is inherently more expensive and energy-consuming than using a standard database because so many different computers are performing the same “work.” For similar reasons, many blockchain transactions take tens of seconds, or even longer, to complete as the network must first establish consensus—which can mean sending information across much of the world just to confirm a transaction two feet away. And of course, the more decentralized the network, the more challenging the problem of consensus typically becomes.
