What are you opinions on this- Algorithms that sacrifice decentralization for scalability are not ideal, as they increase the attack surface from powerful adversaries.
There are many variables to this statement- Decentralization, scalability, protocol security, why sacrifice? Is there a better way to think about it all and what are your thoughts on this?
Decentralization vs scalability vs security seems to be one of many tricky trilemmas, with Bitcoin being the first technology to bring decentralization and security together -- the other two possible combinations having been covered by banks and BitTorrent respectively (amongst others).
So yeah, in the case of cryptocurrencies I fully support decentralization and security over scalability, because otherwise, what's the point? Security is necessary to transmit value, otherwise you can't use it as a money. Decentralization is necessary as a means to an end to achive trustlessness and permissionlessness -- a benefit that centralized solutions do not seem to offer. This leaves scalability as a bit of a stepchild, but that doesn't mean that it can't be improved upon.
The problem when discussing these matter is often that different people have different opinions on (a) what constitutes sufficient decentralization or sometimes even (b) whether decentralization is important at all. Prime example for (a) being the whole Bitcoin vs BCash discussion, AKA "big blocks lead to centralization" vs "payment channels lead to centralization". Prime example for (b) being the likes of Ripple and effectively every ICO ever made, whether they admit it to themselves or not.
Regardless of what your thoughts are on this matter, cryptocurrencies offer something that has been unprecedented so far: Choice. You now have a shitload of currencies to choose from, no matter your preference. Which of these choices will make a real world difference, only time will tell.