去中心化 (DECENTRALIZATION)
當大多加密貨幣順著風潮往理論上可行的去中心化前進時，事實是大多數的加密貨幣在這部分都言過其實。到底有多少真正做到去中心化的呢？真要說的話，不是真的沒有，只是大多數的加密貨幣不過是以不同的形式往中心化的方向靠攏罷了。
透過權益證明法(Proof of Stake, PoS)運作的貨幣，其不穩定的發行數量和分佈模式使得最後的權益都會集中在少人的手上，參與度較低的使用者將會被歸類於次等公民，幾乎沒有機會獲得等同的報酬。
而透過工作量證明法(Proof of Work, PoW)運作的貨幣，像是比特幣就是一個明顯的例子，挖礦的算力被大型的礦池所把持著，這種中心化的算力搭配著資訊透明的區塊鏈已經開始造成各種形式的交易審查情況。
有些加密貨幣則是使用了封閉的發行模式，因此開發過程是中心化的，這些封閉的專案都沒有做到讓公眾審查的過程，更重要的是，開發的過程很有可能會因為其開發者或特定把持技術的團體依其自身利益而輕易左右決策。
門羅幣與這些貨幣相比有許多強大的優點。門羅幣使用嚴格的工作量證明法來運作，具體的說，運算過程使用的演算法是對全世界現有成千上萬的裝置(任何具有x86架構的CPU)所最佳化設計，當這個特性與智慧挖礦功能結合後，可以確保在未來的數年內，每一個人都可以持續參與挖礦的過程，而不會被大型的礦池所壟斷。
而且，門羅幣的交易在區塊鏈上都是隱匿的，被審查交易是不可能的。門羅幣的開發既不是封閉或是特定人員的參與，目前門羅幣核心的開發專案貢獻者超過了30人，過去一年內上傳了超過1000個程式碼的修訂，開發專案非常歡迎新的貢獻者的加入，而許多長程的規劃方向與優先順序規劃也都是在社群內公開的討論。這也代表門羅幣的程式碼開發過程非常的耗費心力，所有被接受加入程式碼的修訂，都要能被整個社群所審視和測試。
幾乎所有的門羅幣開發人員都會於開放原始碼原則具有高度的熱誠，再如此高度創造力的環境下才能創造出新專案的火花，OpenAlias就是一個很好的例子。
本頁原文來自官方網站:
While most cryptocurrencies align to theoretical principles of decentralization, the reality is that most fall short of such a claim. More often than not, it is not just one branch of a cryptocurrency system that is centralized in one form or another, it is that many branches are so.
With Proof of Stake currencies, irregular emission and distribution models cause most of the staking power to end up in the hand of a privileged few. Participants of lesser weight are reduced to second class citizens, with little chance of ever obtaining similar returns.
With Proof of Work currencies, of which Bitcoin remains the most significant reference, the mining process is largely concentrated in a handful of pools. This centralization of mining power, combined with a transparent blockchain, has already lead to various occurrences of transaction censorship.
Other currencies opt for a closed development model, thus centralizing the invention process itself. These closed platforms commonly fail to meet any form of public audit or expert review. More importantly, these are platforms that will anytime swing left and right, in order to satisfy the interests of the restricted group that holds control of development.
Monero contrasts with these examples in various and meaningful ways. Monero is powered strictly by Proof of Work, but specifically, it employs a mining algorithm that has the potential to be efficiently tasked to billions of existing devices (any modern x86 CPU). This very characteristic, and more so once it is coupled with @Smart Mining, has the potential to ensure that for long years to come, the process of mining new Monero coins is within reach of the common individual, and not an exclusive opportunity to the owners of large mining operations.
Further, as transactions are private by default on the Monero blockchain, transaction censorship is inherently void. The Monero development landscape on the other hand, is very much the opposite of a closed or restricted access model. The core branch currently enjoys more than 30 contributors, pushing 1000+ commits over the past year. The project is happy to take on new contributors and any future plans, long-term direction and priorities are openly discussed with the community. Indeed, the policy that governs contribution to the Monero codebase is exhaustingly inclusive - all contributions are accepted into the development branch, where new code can be scrutinized and tested by the entire community.
Most contributors in the Monero development landscape are quite passionate for an open source philosophy, and in this rich creative environment, new projects have sparked to life.OpenAliasis one notable example, which has seen adoption by (amongst others) a major Bitcoin related software product.