Blockchain revolution : how the technology behind bitcoin is changing money, business, and the world

Blockchain revolution How the technology behind bitcoin is changing money, business, and the world

Don Tapscott, 1947-

Book - 2016

The Internet as we know it is great for collaboration and communication, but is deeply flawed when it comes to commerce and privacy. The new blockchain technology facilitates peer-to-peer transactions without any intermediary such as a bank or governing body. Keeping the user's information anonymous, the blockchain validates and keeps a permanent public record of all transactions. That means that your personal information is private and secure, while all activity is transparent and incorruptible--reconciled by mass collaboration and stored in code on a digital ledger. With its advent, we will not need to trust each other in the traditional sense, because trust is built into the system itself.

Saved in:
Place a Hold Save to List Email this

2nd Floor Show me where

332.4/Tapscott
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 332.4/Tapscott Checked In
Subjects
Electronic funds transfers.
Bitcoin.
Electronic commerce.
Mobile commerce.
Banks and banking > Technological innovations.
Financial institutions > Technological innovations.
Published
New York : Portfolio / Penguin [2016]
Language
English
Main Author
Don Tapscott, 1947- (author)
Other Authors
Alex Tapscott (author)
Physical Description
xx, 348 pages ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-336) and index.
ISBN
9781101980132
9780399564062
  • Acknowledgments
  • Part I. Say Yon Want a Revolution
  • Chapter 1. The Trust Protocol
  • In Search of the Trust Protocol
  • How This Worldwide Ledger Works
  • A Rational Exuberance for the Blockchain
  • Achieving Trust in the Digital Age
  • Return of the Internet
  • Your Personal Avatar and the Black Box of Identity
  • A Plan for Prosperity
  • Promise and Peril of the New Platform
  • Chapter 2. Bootstrapping the Future: Seven Design Principles of the Blockchain Economy
  • The Seven Design Principles
  • 1. Networked Integrity
  • 2. Distributed Power
  • 3. Value as Incentive
  • 4. Security
  • 5. Privacy
  • 6. Rights Preserved
  • 7. Inclusion
  • Designing the Future
  • Part II. Transformations
  • Chapter 3. Reinventing Financial Services
  • A New Look for the World's Second-Oldest Profession
  • The Golden Eight: How the Financial Services Sector Will Change
  • From Stock Exchanges to Block Exchanges
  • Dr. Faust's Blockchain Bargain
  • The Bank App: Who Will Win in Retail Banking
  • Google Translate for Business: New Frameworks for Accounting and Corporate Governance
  • Reputation: You Are Your Credit Score
  • The Blockchain IPO
  • The Market for Prediction Markets
  • Road Map for the Golden Eight
  • Chapter 4. Re-architecting the Firm: The Core and the Edges
  • Building ConsenSys
  • Changing the Boundaries of the Firm
  • Determining Corporate Boundaries
  • Chapter 5. New Business Models: Making It Rain on the Blockchain
  • bAirbnb Versus Airbnb
  • Global Computing: The Rise of Distributed Applications
  • The DApp Kings: Distributed Business Entities
  • Autonomous Agents
  • Distributed Autonomous Enterprises
  • The Big Seven: Open Networked Enterprise Business Models
  • Hacking Your Future: Business Model Innovation
  • Chapter 6. The Ledger of Things: Animating the Physical World
  • Power to the People
  • The Evolution of Computing: From Mainframes to Smart Pills
  • The Internet of Things Needs a Ledger of Things
  • The Twelve Disruptions: Animating Things
  • The Economic Payoff
  • The Future: From Uber to SUber
  • Hacking Your Future for a World of Smart Things
  • Chapter 7. Solving the Prosperity Paradox: Economic Inclusion and Entrepreneurship
  • A Pig Is Not a Piggy Bank
  • The New Prosperity Paradox
  • Road Map to Prosperity
  • Remittances: The Story of Analie Domingo
  • Blockchain Humanitarian Aid
  • Safe as Houses? The Road to Asset Ownership
  • Implementation Challenges and Leadership Opportunities
  • Chapter 8. Rebuilding Government and Democracy
  • Something Is Rotten in the State
  • High-Performance Government Services and Operations
  • Empowering People to Serve Selves and Others
  • The Second Era of Democracy
  • Blockchain Voting
  • Alternative Models of Politics and Justice
  • Engaging Citizens to Solve Big Problems
  • Wielding Tools of Twenty-first-Century Democracy
  • Chapter 9. Freeing Culture on the Blockchain: Music to Our Ears
  • Fair Trade Music: From Streaming Music to Metering Rights
  • Artlery for Art Lovers: Connecting Artists and Patrons
  • Privacy, Free Speech, and Free Press on the Blockchain
  • Getting the Word Out: The Critical Role of Education
  • Culture on the Blockchain and You
  • Part III. Promise and Peril
  • Chapter 10. Overcoming Showstoppers: Ten Implementation Challenges
  • 1. The Technology Is Not Ready for Prime Time
  • 2. The Energy Consumed Is Unsustainable
  • 3. Governments Will Stifle or Twist It
  • 4. Powerful Incumbents of the Old Paradigm Will Usurp It
  • 5. The Incentives Are Inadequate for Distributed Mass Collaboration
  • 6. The Blockchain Is a Job Killer
  • 7. Governing the Protocols Is Like Herding Cats
  • 8. Distributed Autonomous Agents Will Form Skynet
  • 9. Big Brother Is (Still) Watching You
  • 10. Criminals Will Use It
  • Reasons Blockchain Will Fail or Implementation Challenges?
  • Chapter 11. Leadership for the Next Era
  • Who Will Lead a Revolution?
  • The Blockchain Ecosystem: You Can't Tell the Players Without a Roster
  • A Cautionary Tale of Blockchain Regulation
  • The Senator Who Would Change the World
  • Central Banks in a Decentralized Economy
  • Regulation Versus Governance
  • A New Framework for Blockchain Governance
  • A New Agenda for the Next Digital Age
  • The Trust Protocol and You
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Choice Review

The blockchain offers high-level encryption with built-in verification. It first became popular with the use of Bitcoin (but an early version was invented for another cryptocurrency). Bitcoin made the blockchain both applicable and popular. Many decades from now, people may praise Bitcoin much more for the advancement of blockchain than for its intended purpose as an alternative currency. Interesting observations are how blockchains could be used to avoid voter fraud, improve copyright protections, better protect/verify medical records, and speed up financial transactions. The book is at times overly optimistic and a bit of a cheap sales pitch, but the essence is right. There are a number of silly errors, such as when the authors write (on page 255) that had Greeks anticipated their country's economic crash, they might have exchanged their drachmas for Bitcoins--had they been available. First, Greece uses the euro, having given up the drachma in 2001. Second, the Greek debt crisis started in 2009. Despite some errors and salesmanship, the book is one of few to offer insights for people interested in the future of blockchains. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. --Robert H. Scott, Monmouth University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review

Don Tapscott (Wikinomics, 2006) and his son, Alex, a blockchain consultant, baldly state that they are not only predicting advances in blockchain technology but advocating them. Dubbed a World Wide Ledger of value, the blockchain is an encrypted, open-source, digital platform invented in 2008 by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto and most famous for underlying the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. But it's capable of so much more, according to the Tapscotts, who envision its use in every possible facet of public and private life to reinvent the monopolistic status quo of banking, reliably establish trust and facilitate prosperity in the sharing economy, enforce bureaucratic accountability, and serve as an engine of inclusion for everyone, not just the wealthy few. They get into the weeds of its application in economics, government, culture, and the Internet of Things, among other sectors, projecting hope for its implementation but also admitting current challenges. Casual readers might get bogged down in the details, but entrepreneurs, public officials, and anyone in a field ripe for disruption ought to read intently.--Comello, Chad Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Those who don't understand how bitcoin operates are not alone. According to the authors, the important thing to know is that electronic money, or virtual currency, can be an acceptable medium of exchange. Blockchain technology provides a means of trading information among participants in a way that is secure, verifiable, and privacy-preserving and-the key-requires no third-party intervention. In other words, items can be purchased over the Internet without a bank or credit card company, just as individuals meet in person and use cash. The authors explore the possibility that this direct exchange has the potential to democratize not just the financial world but all of society. Don Tapscott (CEO, Tapscott Group; Wikinomics; The Digital Economy) and Alex Tapscott (CEO & founder, Northwest Passages Ventures) unabashedly predict that this will happen, and they are all for it. Of course, as has been said many times, prediction is an uncertain endeavor. Written in a series of short, choppy segments, each of which requires careful attention to grasp, this is not an easy book, yet it will attract a small but interested audience. Verdict For determined readers with a strong interest in technology.-Harold D. Shane, mathematics emeritus, Baruch Coll. Lib., CUNY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Similar Items