Chapter 4, “The (Dis)Illusion of the Web3 Decentralization,” interrogates the technopolitical and socioeconomic promises of decentralization amid the rise of Web3 and Generative AI (GenAI). Drawing from iterative action research, including fieldwork in Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., the chapter questions whether decentralization genuinely redistributes power or merely consolidates it within a tech-savvy elite. Framed within a post-Westphalian context, it identifies three emerging paradigms—Network States, Network Sovereignties, and Algorithmic Nations—as divergent responses to this governance transformation. Engaging with the intellectual legacy of Karl Polanyi’s critique of market fundamentalism and Richard R. Nelson’s call to bridge the “moon and the ghetto,” the chapter exposes how digital infrastructures may privilege computational capital while marginalizing civic participation. Web3, often mythologized as democratizing, risks replicating algorithmic hierarchies under the guise of innovation. GenAI amplifies these risks by introducing opaque decision-making architectures governed by proprietary models and technical gatekeeping. Ultimately, this chapter urges hybrid, inclusive policy frameworks attentive to both global asymmetries and local contexts. It advances the volume’s core agenda: to critically “unplug” prevailing digital governance narratives, reinvigorate normative commitments to justice, and propose a more democratic and equitable digital transition in the era of datafied democracies and AI-driven economies.