I remember the early days of blockchain with a sense of almost utopian excitement. The promise was intoxicating: a world free from central authorities, where trust was inherent in the code, and every individual was a sovereign entity. This vision of pure decentralization, a ‘State 0,’ captivated many, including myself. We envisioned a future where every transaction was transparent, immutable, and controlled by the collective, not by a single point of failure. Yet, a stark reality has emerged.