Austin Federa, Co-Founder of DoubleZero and former Head of Strategy at the Solana Foundation, recently took to social media to address common misunderstandings surrounding the terms "decentralized," "distributed," and "colocated" in system architecture. His tweet, shared on April 14, 2026, aimed to provide clear distinctions with practical examples, particularly relevant in the context of blockchain and high-performance networks.
Federa emphasized that these three words are frequently misused, leading to confusion in technical discussions. He defined "decentralized" as focusing on control and operators, where "many participants in the system" manage it. In contrast, "distributed" refers to a system "run in many places over multiple geographic regions," highlighting geographical spread rather than control. Lastly, "colocated" systems are those "intentionally built in a proximity environment," suggesting a deliberate physical closeness for operational benefits.
To illustrate these concepts, Federa provided several examples. He noted that Google's infrastructure is "distributed (runs in many data centers around the world) but centralized," indicating its global reach under a single organizational control. The NASDAQ stock exchange, he explained, is "colocated in an intentionally built environment," referring to its physical setup designed for low-latency trading.
Further clarifying the distinctions, Federa pointed out that "US elections are distributed (run in every city) and decentralized (run by many parties)," showcasing both geographical spread and diverse control. He also cited the Toyosu fish market as an example of a system that is "decentralized (many independent actors participating in the market without central control) but not distributed (geographically constrained)." Federa's insights come from his extensive experience in blockchain and high-performance network development, where precise terminology is crucial for understanding complex systems.
