A morning bulletin offering fresh news, pithy opinions and pioneering insights cultivated straight from the heart of blockchain ideology and technology.
As you ease into your weekend— we give you something a little deeper to ponder with our Friday Deep Dive. Enjoy! — Brought to you by the Keynote team.
17 August 2018
1. Where Art Thou Satoshi?
When did you first hear the term blockchain? Were you one of the first to be captivated and spurred by the ominous potential of a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash called ‘Bitcoin’ ? Or is it a slightly unnerving term that pops up like a jumping jack (again and again and again) since the wild surge in price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies experienced in late 2017?
Are you a hardcore crypto-anarchist fighting for your rights? A driven millennial not fussed by the hype and keen to just get on with things (YOLO)? Or a baby-boomer trembling in your boots wondering how the hell you’re going to get your head around this beast in time to ensure your company does not get swiftly left behind?
Whoever you are, you need to pay attention. So far, the blockchain revolution has been a quiet one. But it’s becoming harder and harder to push this one under the carpet. Blockchain technology will change the world. And we need to be ready.
As with most things, the best place to start with understanding something new is through understanding its history. And for such a young technology, blockchain’s history is already deep, colourful and complex. Arguably — although we are not yet sure exactly how blockchain is going to change the world… if we return its beginnings and underpinning ideology, the how might actually be staring us in the face.
In 2009, a whitepaper that was to change the world emerged. Authored by the then unknown Satoshi Nakamoto, it outlined the concept for a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash that allowed online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. Technicalities aside (and yes, it does get complex), the simple and relatable proposition was to replace a centralized bank backed system with a decentralized ‘trustless’ system that was open, public and validated by the nodes that its network is run by.
This ideology and technology was proved to the world initially through Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency underpinned by this new decentralized technology. And while Bitcoin was (and still is) important, it is the application of its underpinning technology (and its design principles) that has potential to change the word. This technology is known as blockchain.
The fascinating twist to this story is the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto to this day remains a mystery. The person (or people, or entity) behind the ideology and technology poised to disrupt every system and industry we know — is completely unknown. While there are many theories as to who or what Satoshi really is (from being dead, to a well known billionaire, to a collective of tech experts around the world) — the reality is — no-one actually knows.
Curiously, in 2015 an Australian computer scientist and businessman — Dr. Craig Wright *claimed* to be Satoshi Nakamoto and this was acknowledged by several reputable media outlets including the BBC and The Economist. In spite of media support, however, the general consensus among the crypto community is that Wright’s claims are false and the mystery behind the pseudonymous Nakamoto remains unsolved. But not without a plethora of people going to great lengths to prove and uncover his identity.
In our minds, the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is not important. We are not joining the great hunt to solve one of the most perplexing mysteries of the modern world. That’s not what it’s about for us.
What it is about is understanding and living the ideology the Satoshi phenomenon expounds and proactively growing and evolving the technology he so selflessly gave to the world.
If you are interesting in the whereabouts of Satoshi… read this:
If you are interested in the ideology and meaning of blockchain… read on.
2. The Principles of the Blockchain Economy
In the spirit of today’s history lesson, we thought it important to lay out, in plain English, the core principles that underpin blockchain technology and should underpin the blockchain economy.
When we say should, we are alluding to the values led leadership that needs to be embedded globally, for this ideology (and technology) to really come to fruition. And of course, when we say leadership, we are talking about distributed leadership. The kind of leadership that is focused on collaboration, empowering others, embracing diversity and sharing knowledge.
While Satoshi wasn’t necessarily personally driven to change the world — his vision — in its simplicity and elegance provides a stunning insight into the potential evolution of humankind. When you look closely, not only did Satoshi provide a blueprint for a new era of the digital economy, if we pay attention, with this blueprint came a philosophical manifesto designed to help us humans navigate the cultural and social implications that are sure to arise from this technological and economic shift.
Riffing off a number of inspired books and papers (Blockchain Revolution, Toward a Philosophy of Blockchain: A Symposium, The Truth Machine) here are five principles underpinning blockchain that are meaningful to us:
- Intrinsic Integrity — In the world of blockchain trust is encoded. It is open and decentralised and not linked to any specific individual. Transactions can occur without it being a matter of trust. Trust just is — because that is the nature of the operating system.
- Distributed Power — There is no one single point of control. This is a peer-to-peer network that in theory cannot be over-run by any individual or group. It’s self regulating, anti-fragile and therefore, robust.
- Value as Incentive — those who work on it — are rewarded. This is linked to how humans are neurobiologically hard-wired . This is something you can belong to, work on, and as a result, benefit from. It combines community with progress.
- Security & Privacy — Participation requires cryptography and the consequences of bad behaviour is limited to the one behaving badly. This means there is a level of safety that links back to the matter of trust. When there is trust, things can grow.
- Diversity & Inclusion — This works for everyone, and ultimately it needs everyone to work. There are no barriers to participation, and diverse participation (or divergent thinking) leads to meaningful progress.
3. Value Creation at all Levels of Community.
To finish our deep dive into the history and philosophical beginnings of blockchain, we will leave you with this short, but sweet musing by Greg Kerr.
Blockchain’s People, Planet, and Profit Worldview
The lens of People, Planet and Profit (PPP) gives greater significance to Bitcoin’s proof that humans can now assign digital value to anything. The new functional economies offered by the blockchain and the power of incentivizing behavior with cryptocurrencies, takes PT Barnum’s adage of “something for everyone” to the next level.
The notion of ‘syncopating money making with doing well by the Earth and humanity’ should make the next generation of industry leaders ones that build the most efficient and impactful companies.
It’s the should part of the conversation we at Keynote are interested in nurturing and influencing…as this could all go either way.
The Morning Note
We are always on the look out for the hearty stories and pithy ideas underpinning the future of blockchain. If there is something you’d like us to include in The Morning Note, please email clare@keynote.ae and we will be sure to take a look.
