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<sub><center>**The chain is eternal**</sub></center> 
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Most people join decentralized networks mainly for the money. Little thought is put into the long-term impact this technology will have on our lives, especially on decentralized social platforms like hive. I am probably one of the many people who did not give this much thought earlier on. I was young and in need of extra cash, so I jumped on making magic internet money. 

Thinking about my involvement in this decentralized network, I am committing more than just my time. A sizable part of my life for the past 3 years is on record (forever). I can never take it back. I do not know what will happen with the information I have provided. Have I said too much or done too much?

**BLOCKCHAIN FRAUDSTERS AND BAD ACTORS**

I am amazed by how many come to this space, act dubiously and leave, without fearing the consequences of their actions. It might seem insignificant in the short run but who knows how far this technology might go. Decentralized social platforms might be a novelty now but I want to believe this will not be the case in the future. Unlike centralized social platforms where an individual can easily delete a tweet or an account, it is impossible on a decentralized network. This is both a beautiful and scary thing. 

Decentralized social platforms are beautiful in the sense that they provide people with an immutable network to build social and financial capital. However, it is also scary that these records are held permanently and open to a plethora of interpretations. We do not know how much the world will change in a couple of decades from now, we cannot say for certain what the sentiment around will be like 30 years from now. It can be anything from good to outright chaos.
 

I imagine a possible crackdown on crypto users globally at some point. Something similar happened in my country where people were unbanked for engaging in crypto-related transactions. I assumed that the commercial banks did not fully comply with the central bank's directives because they would have flagged many more accounts, including mine. 

Now imagine a situation where people serve jail time for holding or using crypto in any form. It doesn't take much for things to escalate and ordinary users end up behind bars. Might seem extreme but this sort of pushback is one of the things we are signing up for by being part of this supposed revolution, and there will be no way to deny our involvement because our records are held on the blockchain permanently.

I have thought of becoming anonymous. Unfortunately, my earning capacity and audience are strongly tied to my identity. It would take a lot of work and time to reinvent my persona which I cannot afford at this point. Also, of what use is anonymity in a world of AIs? I want to believe that it will be a lot easy to track people down based on their social footprint.

The point of this post is to remind us of what we are signing up for by contributing to a decentralized community that is undermining centralized authorities. It might seem rosy now but there will be some major pushback once more people begin to join the movement. Many if these supposed decentralised protocols have gotten in bed with the government, would we eventually give in to the pressure? 

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[Image Source](https://pixabay.com/photos/music-cassette-tape-cassette-retro-1285165/)

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Posted Using [LeoFinance <sup>Beta</sup>](https://leofinance.io/@nonsowrites/permanent-record)