Why does everybody talk about blockchain?

--- tags: chapman, blockchain, --- # Why does everybody talk about blockchain? The [metaverse](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/style/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html) has recently been in the headlines. Since Neil Stephenson's sci-fi novel "Snow Crash" coined this term in 1992, technology has made enough progress to enable a society in which a relevant part of human interaction will happen in virtual worlds. It is telling that Facebook [renamed](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/technology/meta-facebook-zuckerberg.html) itself to Meta. Moreover, the outlines of the metaverse have been taking shape for a while in [gaming](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/18/technology/personaltech/metaverse-gaming-definition.html), with growing interest from [web3](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/business/dealbook/what-is-web3.html), [fintech](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/nyregion/eric-adams-bitcoin-cryptocurrency.html) and [DeFi](https://www.coinbase.com/learn/crypto-basics/what-is-defi). These developments are underpinned by blockchain (= distributed ledger) technology which allows us to store data in a public and decentralised ledger while offering adequate levels of privacy. If this data plays the role of money one speaks of cryptocurrencies, or crypto for short, with [Bitcoin](https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3132259?download=true) the first example. Using crypto one can create decentralised markets free from resource-controlling intermediaries, increasing [inclusion of diverse communities](https://peggypoon.medium.com/why-blockchain-will-revolutionize-diversity-inclusion-32bf6598acbe). But the real power of blockchains comes from smart contracts, which are self-enforcing contracts written in code. Once they are agreed upon and running they cannot be changed: [law-as-code](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/l/lessig-code.html). It is even possible to build digital companies that are run by code, not by people, so-called digital autonomous organisations ([DAOs](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/26/techscape-daos-nfts)). All these developments are creating a huge excitement, not seen since the early days of the internet in the 1990ies. I believe that anyone who remembers how different the world was back then will want to be part of the next wave of innovation and change.