The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust

Name: The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust
Brand: The MIT Press
SKU: 9780262038935-MTUSDTR
Price: 224.0 HKD
Availability: InStock

Kevin Werbach (Author) ... more

Information Policy (Series) ... more

Edition: US - Hardback

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Product Info

English

344 pages • 6.31 x 9.31 x 1.1 in

Approx. weight: 1.38 lb

Publication date: 20 Nov,2018

Barcode: 9780262038935 • The MIT Press

More books in English for Age -

Computing and Information Technology

Distributed ledger technology / blockchain
Central / national / federal government policies
Science funding and policy
Currency / Foreign exchange
Financial technology (fintech)

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By: Kevin Werbach | Series: Information Policy

How the blockchain—a system built on foundations of mutual mistrust—can become trustworthy.

The blockchain entered the world on January 3, 2009, introducing an innovative new trust architecture: an environment in which users trust a system—for example, a shared ledger of information—without necessarily trusting any of its components. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is the most famous implementation of the blockchain, but hundreds of other companies have been founded and billions of dollars invested in similar applications since Bitcoin's launch. Some see the blockchain as offering more opportunities for criminal behavior than benefits to society. In this book, Kevin Werbach shows how a technology resting on foundations of mutual mistrust can become trustworthy.

The blockchain, built on open software and decentralized foundations that allow anyone to participate, seems like a threat to any form of regulation. In fact, Werbach argues, law and the blockchain need each other. Blockchain systems that ignore law and governance are likely to fail, or to become outlaw technologies irrelevant to the mainstream economy. That, Werbach cautions, would be a tragic waste of potential. If, however, we recognize the blockchain as a kind of legal technology that shapes behavior in new ways, it can be harnessed to create tremendous business and social value.