Paul Vigna - The Truth Machine - The Blockchain and the Future of Everything

Copyright Copyright Dedication A Note from the Authors Preface Introduction: A Society-Building Tool 1. The God Protocol 2. “Governing” the Digital Economy 3. The Plumbing and the Politics 4. The Token Economy 5. Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution 6. The Old Guard’s New Makeover 7. Blockchains for Good 8. A Self-Sovereign Identity 9. Everyone’s a Creator 10. A New Constitution for the Digital Age Notes List of Searchable Terms Acknowledgments Other Books By About the Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in the US by St Martin’s Press 2018

This UK edition published by HarperCollins Publishers 2018

FIRST EDITION

© Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey 2018

Cover photograph (Locks) © Tatiana Popova/Shutterstock.com

Cover design by Rob Grom

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green

Source ISBN: 9780008301774

Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9780008301781

Version 2018-03-01

Dedication Dedication A Note from the Authors Preface Introduction: A Society-Building Tool 1. The God Protocol 2. “Governing” the Digital Economy 3. The Plumbing and the Politics 4. The Token Economy 5. Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution 6. The Old Guard’s New Makeover 7. Blockchains for Good 8. A Self-Sovereign Identity 9. Everyone’s a Creator 10. A New Constitution for the Digital Age Notes List of Searchable Terms Acknowledgments Other Books By About the Publisher

For Liz, Jenny, Sarah, and Di

—MC

For my mom and dad

—PV

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Copyright Copyright Dedication A Note from the Authors Preface Introduction: A Society-Building Tool 1. The God Protocol 2. “Governing” the Digital Economy 3. The Plumbing and the Politics 4. The Token Economy 5. Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution 6. The Old Guard’s New Makeover 7. Blockchains for Good 8. A Self-Sovereign Identity 9. Everyone’s a Creator 10. A New Constitution for the Digital Age Notes List of Searchable Terms Acknowledgments Other Books By About the Publisher HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in the US by St Martin’s Press 2018 This UK edition published by HarperCollins Publishers 2018 FIRST EDITION © Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey 2018 Cover photograph (Locks) © Tatiana Popova/Shutterstock.com Cover design by Rob Grom A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green Source ISBN: 9780008301774 Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9780008301781 Version 2018-03-01

Dedication Dedication Dedication A Note from the Authors Preface Introduction: A Society-Building Tool 1. The God Protocol 2. “Governing” the Digital Economy 3. The Plumbing and the Politics 4. The Token Economy 5. Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution 6. The Old Guard’s New Makeover 7. Blockchains for Good 8. A Self-Sovereign Identity 9. Everyone’s a Creator 10. A New Constitution for the Digital Age Notes List of Searchable Terms Acknowledgments Other Books By About the Publisher For Liz, Jenny, Sarah, and Di —MC For my mom and dad —PV

A Note from the Authors A Note from the Authors Throughout this book you will see a distinction between “bitcoin” written with a lowercase “b” and “Bitcoin” with an uppercase “B.” The former refers to bitcoin’s status as a currency, the latter is a reference to the overarching system and protocol that underpins that currency and other uses for the Bitcoin blockchain ledger. Addressing an inconsistency in popular parlance, we generally employ three distinct usages of the word “blockchain”: “The blockchain,” which refers to Bitcoin’s original distributed ledger; “a blockchain”— or, pluralized, “blockchains”— to cover a variety of more recent distributed ledgers that share Bitcoin’s chain-of-blocks structure; and “blockchain technology,” referring to the overall field. We also use “distributed ledger technology” to encompass both blockchain and non-blockchain distributed ledgers. We mostly avoid the popular construct of “blockchain” as a non-countable noun. We view a blockchain, like any ledger, as a distinct, identifiable thing, not a process. The book’s title uses the definite article form to acknowledge the catalytic role that the original Bitcoin blockchain played in unleashing this field.

Preface

Introduction: A Society-Building Tool

1. The God Protocol

2. “Governing” the Digital Economy

3. The Plumbing and the Politics

4. The Token Economy

5. Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution

6. The Old Guard’s New Makeover

7. Blockchains for Good

8. A Self-Sovereign Identity

9. Everyone’s a Creator

10. A New Constitution for the Digital Age

Notes

List of Searchable Terms

Acknowledgments

Other Books By

About the Publisher

A Note from the Authors

Throughout this book you will see a distinction between “bitcoin” written with a lowercase “b” and “Bitcoin” with an uppercase “B.” The former refers to bitcoin’s status as a currency, the latter is a reference to the overarching system and protocol that underpins that currency and other uses for the Bitcoin blockchain ledger.

Addressing an inconsistency in popular parlance, we generally employ three distinct usages of the word “blockchain”: “The blockchain,” which refers to Bitcoin’s original distributed ledger; “a blockchain”— or, pluralized, “blockchains”— to cover a variety of more recent distributed ledgers that share Bitcoin’s chain-of-blocks structure; and “blockchain technology,” referring to the overall field. We also use “distributed ledger technology” to encompass both blockchain and non-blockchain distributed ledgers. We mostly avoid the popular construct of “blockchain” as a non-countable noun. We view a blockchain, like any ledger, as a distinct, identifiable thing, not a process. The book’s title uses the definite article form to acknowledge the catalytic role that the original Bitcoin blockchain played in unleashing this field.