[encryptluks2]

Whatever happened to the decentralization concept of every user being a node? Like not just computers but apps for phones too, so in order to use it you also have to share some resources in return. Is BitTorrent really the closest thing to decentralization?

[latchkey]

There is still a plan for that, but it has required a lot of R&D and 'invention' of new techniques. Read up on Verkle trees [0]. That said, the plan is to basically prune the database and not keep history of what each wallet balance was at a certain block. This storage is going to be pushed off to indexers that want to provide it as a service. I'm not sure that is a good or bad thing, but it'll enable the future you're talking about since we do not have infinite storage/bandwidth on our small devices.

[0] https://vitalik.ca/general/2021/06/18/verkle.html

[rvz]

The moment you have to stake 32 ETH to be a validator, it was already made highly inaccessible for most.

As soon as that node ends up running on AWS rather than a user’s typical laptop as suggested by Vitalik and his friends, then that was another decentralization failure there and there is no self-hosting at home.

Finally, when the merge was finalized, there where only two addresses that ended up holding more than 48% of Ethereum that is used for the PoS mechanism to work. Another centralization risk feared that happened in reality.

So, that looks to me like a failure of decentralization and a more centralized system that as expected; made worse with Proof of Stake.