Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future

by Andrew McAfee

The blockchain might well be more important than Bitcoin. It’s open, transparent, global, flexible, and immutable ledger is clearly valuable, especially if it’s combined with smart contracts and other digital innovations. The most remarkable thing about Bitcoin and the blockchain might be how they enable a global crowd of people and organizations, all acting in their own interest, to create something of immense shared value. Bitcoin and the blockchain have sparked a wave of innovation and entrepreneurship, and it’s not at all clear now what roles they’ll eventually play in economies and societies. Some people believe that large organizations, from banks to technology companies, have become too powerful, and that a viable alternative to them now exists because of the new technologies of extreme decentralization. Early initiatives indicate that there’s a lot of demand for new ledger technologies. That may make many existing business processes cheaper and faster and, perhaps more important, enable new ones.