Ideas in this flowchart

• Monetary systems differ in how records are maintained and governed.
• Traditional systems rely on banks or central authorities to record who owes what to whom.
• Centralized record-keeping provides efficiency and security.
• It concentrates power and profit in the hands of the record-keepers.
• Decentralized systems distribute record-keeping among networked individuals or institutions.
• Safeguards must prevent any single participant from tampering with the shared record.
• The network must provide incentives that encourage participants to act in the system’s interest.
• The network must establish common rules for participants.