Blockchain Revolution

The Internet's first phase moved information, Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott argue, and its second, powered by blockchain, will move value. They describe blockchain, the protocol behind bitcoin and other digital currencies, as a public ledger that cannot be tampered with, letting transactions be anonymous and secure at once. The authors see uses well beyond money: recording birth and death certificates, insurance claims and votes, helping artists earn a living from their work, tracing where hamburger meat comes from, and cutting the fees immigrants pay to send money home. They also point to early adoption, including a consortium of forty-two large financial institutions, among them Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, formed to study the technology.

NETOPIA mobilPay founder Antonio Eram said it gave him a eureka moment about the potential of blockchain, and TOKENIZE Exchange founder Hong Qi Yu praised the authors' vivid explanation of the technology.