Blockchains and the Economic Institutions of Capitalism Article Swipe

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Ledger Cryptocurrency Blockchain Distributed ledger Corporate governance Capitalism Certification New institutional economics Digital currency Institutional economics Intellectual property Cryptography Computer security Business Commerce Law and economics Neoclassical economics Economics Accounting Computer science Political science Law Finance Politics Payment

Sinclair Davidson , Primavera De Filippi , Jason Potts ·

YOU? · · 2017 · Open Access · · OA: W3124866077

Blockchains are a new digital technology that combines peer-to-peer network computing and cryptography to create an immutable decentralised public ledger. Where the ledger records money, a blockchain is a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin; but ledger entries can record any data structure, including property titles, identity and certification, contracts, and so on. We argue that the economics of blockchains extend beyond analysis of a new general purpose technology and its disruptive Schumpeterian consequences to the broader idea that blockchains are an institutional technology. We consider several examples of blockchain-based economic coordination and governance. We claim that blockchains are an instance of institutional evolution.