Beyond Bitcoin: The Rise of Blockchain World

Bitcoin was the first currency not controlled by a single entity (Nakamoto 2008). Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, built on blockchain technology. Initially known to only a few nerds and criminals it now has hundreds of thousands of daily transactions. Bitcoin has achieved values of more than US$15,000 per coin (as of the end of 2017). Rising value attracts attention. For some, Bitcoin is digital fool’s gold. Others see the underlying technology blockchain as the beginning of a new digital era. Both could be right. The fortunes of cryptocurrencies do not define blockchain. The biggest effects of blockchain might lie beyond Bitcoin, beyond cryptocurrencies or even beyond the economy. Not all the technical questions about blockchain are answered. There remain questions about high levels of processing intensity and energy use. These questions will, no doubt, be confronted over time. If the technology fails, the future of blockchain will be different. This paper assumes technical challenges will be solved, and while it attends to some technical issues, these are not the main focus of this paper.