The basic idea is that everything inside the gray rectangles is decentralized and open source. For now I’m calling these the Shared Data and Protocol Layers. Nobody controls these parts of the system, and they’re accessible by any person or company. If we use Bitcoin as an example, the Blockchain is the shared data layer and the Bitcoin protocol is a Decentralized Protocol that’s part of the Shared Protocol Layer.
mk, wasoxygen -based on past conversations I've had with you two, I thought you might enjoy this.