Decentralization is a buzzword in the crypto community, but what exactly does it mean?

Decentralization is a process and a state, both of which must be achieved to produce an effective blockchain. The first step involves distributing data across multiple nodes on your network instead of keeping all information in one place (like in traditional centralized systems). The second step involves ensuring that those nodes cannot be compromised or corrupted by malicious actors -this ensures that no single user can compromise the integrity of your system.

Once you've established this level of security and reliability, then you have achieved decentralization! But there's more: if you want any chance at all at achieving consensus among participants within your network (which is necessary for them to agree upon changes), then there must also be some sort of incentive mechanism built into it as well - a way for miners/validators who participate in maintaining order within their respective cryptocurrency networks get rewarded financially through fees paid out by users who need access such services provided by miners/validators via smart contracts executed through their CPUs/GPUs during mining operations performed by those same miners/validators who receive these fees after performing said tasks successfully without compromising integrity.