If I were speculating on a centralized system, I’d be wary of them a) changing the rules, and b) having some kind of top-down change that prevented me from accessing my account, or whatever it is.

Indeed, taken to the limit, in Web3, users sometimes have no need to trust the company (or people) behind a project; rather, they just have to trust the code itself.

Having tech platforms sponsor UCI programs is not without risk. It moves us from the real-world paradigm in which governments and central banks have absolute power over money, to an online world in which platforms have greater control over the livelihoods of emerging artists.

Centrally controlled network effects allow platforms to build unexpectedly dangerous incentive structures.