I have previously categorized ’crypto’ — a catch-all for blockchain- and Web3-related innovation — as part of the Digital Revolution that started around the late 1960s to early 1970s with the invention of packet switched networks, microprocessors, and other digital technologies that enabled the proliferation of personal computers and the…

The term ’institutional isomorphism’ refers to similarities in the structure and processes of independent organizations in a particular field. In the past, the spread of information and the adoption of similar practices was slower and often limited to organizations within a single country or region. …

Computer software is arguably one of the most impactful technologies of our time. Over the past few decades, major changes in daily habits, social organization, and wealth distribution have been triggered by software innovations, and everything suggests there’s more to come. One way to categorize software-based services is how decentralized…

Introduction Financial speculation and risk-taking are essential features of all monetary economies in which the distribution of profits is determined by the ‘independent’ decision-making of individual buyers and sellers. History has shown that without appropriate rules, safeguards, and behavioral norms, financial markets become more prone to fraud, pro-cyclical excess, and crises…

Digital technology systems have emerged as one of the most important organizing structures of contemporary society. As a result, the challenge of governing society is increasingly overlapping with the challenge of governing digital technology, the scope of which is rapidly expanding through blockchain-related innovation and a general trend towards automation. …

Automation and Progress The history of technology can be framed as the history of automation. A quote from more than a century ago by the philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead sums up nicely the connection between automation and progress: “Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform…

Based on my observations of ‘crypto’ over the past couple of years, I’ve put together a list of ten theses on decentralized network governance, including base layer public blockchain networks and applications (smart contracts) running on top of them. The ten ideas are listed from the more general and theoretical…

The principles of free and open source software (FOSS) are fundamental to the ethos of the communities building blockchain-based web services. While it is not uncommon for a single organization or a small group of core developers to coordinate and deliver most of the work, the source code is generally…

Governance is the process of applying any design feature or control mechanism that maintains and steers a system. In the context of blockchain networks, this includes applying the rules of the protocol for administering data and facilitating transactions, as well as various social and institutional arrangements that determine how decisions…