Blockchain Bubble or Revolution: The Present and Future of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

by Neel Mehta

Blockchains and cryptocurrencies are well-built technologies: they’re secure and reliable, and the computational theory behind them is solid. The idea of an immutable, shared history of past transactions is extremely powerful. But, when these technologies came out, not much serious thought was put behind the nitty gritty of how these technologies would actually drive social change. Sure, you can start tracking real estate and stocks on the blockchain, but who is going to turn those systems from prototypes into battle-hardened systems used — and accepted — by the whole world? Sure, you can make a new currency, but how would you overhaul the entire world’s financial system, which is a huge and hard-to-understand beast? Sure, you can build the technology to replace governments with smart contracts and blockchain-based governance systems, but how would you get the policy, law, and statecraft right? The technologists who created blockchain and cryptocurrencies were better at solving the thorny technical problems and not these social problems.