Olga V. Mack - Blockchain Value

Blockchain Value

Blockchain Value

Transforming Business Models, Society, and Communities

Olga V. Mack

Blockchain Value: Transforming Business Models, Society, and Communities
Copyright Business Expert Press, LLC, 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 250 words, without the prior permission of the publisher.

First published in 2020 by
Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-95253-824-7 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-95253-825-4 (e-book)

Business Expert Press Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Collection

Collection ISSN: 1946-5653 (print)
Collection ISSN: 1946-5664 (electronic)

Cover and interior design by S4Carlisle Publishing Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America.

Dedication

To my digital twins. You have always been there for me. I wish you were mine.

DADA Collective: Boris Z. Simunich, Peru / Andras, New Zealand, collaboratively created using blockchain technology, a visual conversation.

Praise for Blockchain Value

Olga V. Mack presents an essential read for those seeking to demystify the practical benefits of blockchain technology.

Daniel Spuller, Chairman, North Carolina Blockchain Initiative and former Director, Chamber of Digital Commerce

Olga V. Mack is a leading voice in the worlds of law, technology, and innovation. In Blockchain Value, she explains, with great insight, lucidity, and humor, one of the most powerfuland least understood technologies transforming the world today.

David Lat, Founding Editor, Above the Law, and Managing Director, Lateral Link

Olga V. Mack is a world-leading strategist, nationally-recognized author, public speaker, and womens advocate. In Blockchain Value, Olgas high levels of optimism for blockchain technologies and how these will transform our lives shine through. There is amusement, expert analysis, and eye-opening futurist insights. Highly recommend

Robert Hanna, Entrepreneur, Founder & Managing Director, Kissoon Carr, and Host, Legally Speaking Podcast

I approached it wearing two hats one as CEO and Founder of a FinTech start-up and the other as a blockchain technician. In both capacities, I feel that Blockchain Value is a must-read. Olga Mack takes a complicated topic and makes it accessible.

Maryanne Morrow, CEO and Founder, 9th Gear Technologies, Inc.

Description

Blockchain is everything you dont understand about technology, finance, and law mixed together. It is a complex technology that is still largely experimental today. It will be transformative in the future. This book focuses on the nonexclusive values of blockchain that can be used across industries. focuses on the transformative power of small acts and micropayments amplified by blockchain.

Keywords

blockchain; smart contract; DLT; shared ledger; distributed ledger technology; entrepreneurship; e-commerce

Contents

DADA Collective: Lissette San Martin, Chile / Mlibty, Croatia, collaboratively created using blockchain technology, a visual conversation

About 2 years ago, I told my husband that instead of pursuing the usual path for a thirty-something general counsel at a start-uptoward the next bigger and better companyI would dive headfirst into the blockchain business world. He was surprised. And I am certain that, as he politely smiled and asked why? he was wondering if I had hit my midlife crisis earlier than expected.

Imagine that theres a new candy store in town, with the best candies ever from all over the world, I began my explanation, watching his expression change from shock to confusion.

Everyone is racing to the candy store, eager to get and gorge on the candy. Well, I have two choices here. I can stay general counsel and keep telling everyone how to optimize their candy enjoyment while reminding them of the various sugar-related risks, all the while secretly salivating with my hands and mouth pressed against the window of the candy store. Or I can get in and gorge on the candy. So I decided to do the latter. Ill get in early, help build the blockchain industry, and enjoy the process firsthand, instead of vicariously through the experiences of my colleagues.

He responded: Sounds good.

When it comes to blockchain technology, I decided to get in a proverbial candy store and gorge on the candy.

And so, it happened! For the last 2 years, I have been on the front lines of this incredibly exciting and promising new industry. If youve kept up with the news at all, you might already know that the highs have been very high, and the lows have been, well, very low.

I have seen snake oil salesmen capitalize on the boom by deceiving the general public and obfuscating the technology. And I have seen the industry professionalize and filter out the phonies. I have met many so-called experts who ooze confidence but lack competence, but I have seen an increasing number of high-integrity professionals learn together and persistently develop use cases for this very complicated technology.

It is an experimental field. Doing is the only way to gain expertise.

The word blockchain has become a catnip for investors. At first, they were giving five, ten, twenty million dollars to any early-stage company, with no product and hardly anything to show beyond an ideajust an allegedly amazing team and the word blockchain thrown in there somewhere.

I talked to a few investors as I considered joining a few of these mysterious start-ups. I wanted to know what I was missing, what they were seeing that I wasnt. I watched highly successful, grown men behave like my 8-year-old daughters do in Claires when they are overwhelmed by shiny objects. Thankfully, this unsustainable enthusiasm ended. Were back to a much more prudent approach to investing.

I have seen companies use blockchain as a marketing tool to signal novelty and innovation. And I have increasingly seen companies put a serious effort into developing the technology and ecosystem. I have had many conversations about what is possible. And I have even seen several pilots and proof of concepts enter production and materialize in the real world.

Interestingly, blockchain is not geographically limited to Silicon Valley. It is a global phenomenon. Switzerland, Estonia, and Israel are often leading the developments in this field.

Enterprises and start-ups are finally building products that are meaningful on blockchain. We are finally solving problems and building what our customers may need.

Finally, I have witnessed highly regarded professionals debate, in full seriousness, whether Hyperledger, Ethereum, or some other blockchain platform is the best. Even ignoring the seeming convergence of platforms, this debate is a bit like asking whether a fork or a spoon is a better tool. The answer is obvious: it depends on what youre eating. And sometimes chopsticks enhance the experience even more.