I think you're very correct, Sorin. There is most certainly an aspect of evolutionary potential in decentralizion.
In other words, Hobbes was dead wrong: A war of all against all is the natural state of nature, yes, and that state is the ideal state. And that state can NEVER be terminated, except with the absolute termination of life and growth.
As long as we live, we must fight, and anyone who forgets that, be it the king on top who is content with his riches, or the lowliest peasant, who simply accepts the oppressive status quo, will simply fade into oblivion. It's only a matter of time.
Evolution never stops, and that fundamental natural force is the same force that keeps decentralization more than just relevant: It is necessary. We need competition, because the only alternative is first stagnation, and then extinction.
However you take his words, I would never say that "Hobbes was dead wrong" - he lived and wrote almost 400 years ago, for God's sake! 😄 He was likely right in 1651, also because, among other things, blockchain had not been invented yet! 😄
As you point out too, in "Understanding blockchain's social impact" I argue that it's more useful to talk not about "the state" of society, but rather to integrate the time dimension and see society as a dynamic flow - like riding a bicycle. For some periods the centralising "Power", i.e. Hobbeses Leviathan pushes harder, and during other historical periods the "state of nature" has the upper hand.
We are at a delicate juncture in history. Since the late 60-ies (probably the "free-est" period in the history of human society) the "Power" has continuously increased its grip and took away more and more freedoms.
Decentralization has become more and more necessary indeed, as has competition between hierarchies of power.