① First, let's understand the traditional accounting method: centralized banking.

Imagine that you, I, and all our friends have our money stored in the same bank.

This bank is the 'center'; if you want to transfer 100 yuan to me, you must first inform the bank. The bank will deduct 100 yuan from your account in its unique ledger, which no one can casually view, and add 100 yuan to my account.

All power is concentrated in the hands of the bank—the ledger is only in its possession, and only it can modify it. What it says is what it is.

But this also carries significant risks. If the bank's system malfunctions, or if the bank collapses, then everyone’s money might not be recoverable. Or, if there are employees at the bank secretly altering the ledger, it would be very difficult for us to detect.

After all, everything has to listen to the bank.

② How to not listen to banks? This brings us to the 'centralized accounting method':

We live in a village. This village has no bank and no village chief to manage money.

No central authority and no bank.

Each household has an identical public account book that clearly records all transaction histories from ancient times to the present. Now, you want to transfer 1 USDT (a stablecoin) to Xiao Zhang, and the process is as follows:

You shout with a loudspeaker to the whole village: 'Everyone pay attention! I want to transfer 1 USDT to Xiao Zhang from my account!'

After hearing the broadcast, everyone will take out their account books to verify: first check if you actually have this 1 USDT. If you do, everyone will write this transaction record into their own account books together.

In this way, transactions are linked together like a chain (this is also where the term 'blockchain' comes from), and the account books of the whole village are always kept in sync.

③ What are the benefits of 'decentralization'?

✅ Impossible to tamper: Want to secretly change your family's account book? No use! Because thousands of account books in the village are different from yours, everyone can see through you at a glance, and your fake account book will be nullified. Unless you can change the account books of more than half of the households in the village at the same time—this is almost impossible in reality.

✅ Especially secure: Even if the account books at your home and mine are burned (equivalent to several computers breaking), it's okay. As long as there are other people in the village who have account books, the entire accounting system remains stable, and no information will be lost. Unlike banks, if the headquarters' server breaks, everyone panics.

✅ Freedom of transaction: Without a 'bank' as an intermediary, no one can randomly stop you from transferring money, and no one can freeze your funds (as long as you keep your password safe). Transactions are peer-to-peer, and as long as the whole village (the entire network) recognizes it, the transaction can succeed.