Quinn DuPont - Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains

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QUINN DUPONT

polity

Copyright Quinn DuPont 2019

The right of Quinn DuPont to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2019 by Polity Press

Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press
101 Station Landing
Suite 300
Medford, MA 02155, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2027-5

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: DuPont, Quinn, author.

Title: Cryptocurrencies and blockchains / Quinn DuPont.
Description: Medford, MA : Polity, 2019. | Series: Digital media and society | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018022732 (print) | LCCN 2018037863 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509520275 (Epub) | ISBN 9781509520237 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509520244 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Bitcoin. | Electronic funds transfers. | Blockchains (Databases) | Digital media. | BISAC: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies.
Classification: LCC HG1710 (ebook) | LCC HG1710 .D87 2019 (print) | DDC 332.1/78--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018022732

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Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

This book is truly a collaborative, global effort. While writing it I travelled nearly constantly and met dozens of people who informed my thinking. My greatest intellectual debt goes to Bill Maurer at the University of California, Irvine, who has long supported and encouraged me. Parts of this book were written during a Fellowship at the lovely Leuphana University of Lneburg, which was both enjoyable and productive thanks to Armin Beverungen, Paula Bialski, Lisa Conrad, and Jorge Oceja. I am also indebted to my European and American colleagues, whom I have had had many valuable conversations withMark Coeckelbergh, Wessel Reijers, Gianluca Miscione, Rachel ODwyer, Taylor Nelms, Lana Swartz, David Golumbia, and Finn Brunton. My editors at Polity Press, Mary Savigar and Ellen MacDonald-Kramer, moved mountains to bring this book to press so quickly. Similarly, the anonymous reviewers provided expedient, thorough, and insightful feedback. Special thanks to Megan Finn and Katie Shilton for providing me with the institutional support and opportunity to complete this book.

Writing would have been impossible without my friends and family and their unwavering support. Rory, woof. This book is dedicated to Alana Cattapan, my producer and wife who made untold sacrificesputting up with academic wanderlust, often finding me far from home. On more than one occasion I was warned, If you mention Bitcoin one more time, Im hanging up on youa refrain undoubtedly heard by many others involved in this field, and yet the phone was never put down and encouragement and care were always forthcoming. Thank you. I do not invest in cryptocurrencies. I do, however, buy small amounts of cryptocurrencies for experimentation. I am also an occasional advisor, participant, and employee of cryptocurrency and blockchain companies and projects. My up-to-date financial investment and conflict of interest disclosure is available at iqdupont.com/disclosure.

I bought Bitcoin at $20. I bought Ethereum at $4. Ive bought coins, tokens, and crypto of every kind. As I write this, Bitcoin trades near $20,000, Ethereum above $1,000. Blockchain startups launch in the millions or hundreds of millions. By the time you read this, these prices may very well seem quaint.

But Im no investor, and this is no investment book. I lost money when the Mt. Gox exchange bankrupted, and then again when The DAO crowdsourcing experiment was hacked. I bought penny coins that stayed penny coins. Those Bitcoins and Ethers? I sold them long ago, making profit enough for a couple of nice dinners. This book is no guide to riches.

This book is a guide to understanding the wide, and yes sometimes wild, world of cryptocurrencies and blockchains.

It is remarkable how quickly the topic has grown in interest and importance. Just a few years ago cryptocurrencies and blockchains were considered fringe topics largely of interest to only a niche community of software developers. Today, banks and institutional investors are actively trading cryptocurrencies, international engineering and standards associations are helping shape the future of blockchain technologies, blue chip enterprises are leading research and development, and government agencies both big and small are deploying the technology for their constituents. By 2016, billions had already been poured into research and development. Through 2017, cryptocurrency and blockchain venture capital funding (US $3.7 billion) surpassed the entirety of all other technology seed funding (F. Wilson 2017), and there are no signs of investment slowing down through 2018 and forward. Hype and general interest, combined with confusion, has also grown rapidly. Issues facing cryptocurrencies and blockchainsfrom hacks to the hunt for Bitcoins inventorare regularly featured on the front pages of leading newspapers, in magazines, and in the daily television and radio news cycle. The inexact science of online search volume is also indicative of the hype and confusionsearches for cryptocurrency and blockchain keywords are now several factors greater than the big technology stories of the last decade, besting Web 2.0, Cloud Computing, and VoIP (). Perhaps the truest measure of widespread interest is the number of times I have heard conversations about cryptocurrencies and blockchains at my local caf or bar, and even the deli.