Breakthrough: The proof of work required to mint coins also time-stamps transactions, so that only the first spend of a coin would clear and settle. Combined with PKI, the blockchain not only prevents a double spend but also confirms ownership of every coin in circulation, and each transaction is immutable and irrevocable. In other words, we can’t trade what isn’t ours on the blockchain, whether it’s real property, intellectual property, or rights of personhood. Nor can we trade what we aren’t authorized to trade on somebody else’s behalf in an agency role, perhaps as a lawyer or a company
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