“When Blockchain Revolution came out, bitcoin was worth around $7 billion. Today, it’s more than twenty-two times that. Bitcoin is the workhorse of the cryptocurrency world and the cryptocurrency that launched a thousand ships.”
So reads part of the preface in the newly-released second edition of Blockchain Revolution by the father-and-son team of Don Tapscott, founder and executive chair of the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), and Alex Tapscott, founder and CEO of NextBlock Global, a digital asset company.
The first edition of Blockchain Revolution, published in May 2016, has been translated into 15 languages, is a bestseller in five Asian languages and remains Amazon’s number one selling book about blockchain technology.
Two years in the crypto world is a lifetime, so there’s lots of catching up to do in the second edition which contains a lengthy preface with plenty of new material, including information about tokens (utility, security, natural asset and commodity), a who’s who of the crypto world, leading companies in the space, instructions for leading crypto companies and their managers, and the “leadership of nations.”
Predicting a rosy future for bitcoin, the new edition notes that bitcoin’s impact on culture and the economy in the last two years has been “extraordinary” and points out that the remarkable price rise since 2016 means bitcoin has become an asset class too big for investors to ignore.
The attitude on the part of banks has changed since 2016 when blockchain “good,” bitcoin “bad” was the dominant ethics. Now even Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are getting into the cryptocurrency market.
Noting bitcoin’s continuing success, the authors say:
“With the launch of the Lightning Network and other scaling solutions in 2018, bitcoin may also fulfill the promise of its most ardent supporters and obliterate the need for traditional financial intermediaries.”
Top 10 Crypto “Leadership” Countries
The new second edition names 10 “leadership nations” who are best placed to lead the blockchain revolution and build the new innovation economy.
Alphabetically the countries are: Australia, Canada, China, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Estonia, Singapore, Sweden (Stockholm and the “Node Pole”), Switzerland (Zurich and Zug), United Kingdom (London) and the United States (New York City and Silicon Valley).
Each country is briefly assessed with suggestions on how to move forward.
Silicon Valley’s important role is noted, but the authors also say that since blockchains are decentralized by design, it may be that a cross-border collaboration is more likely in the future, rather than being dependent on one or two dominating hubs.
Seven “conditions for success” in developing a blockchain hub are described: Incubators and Entrepreneurship, Corporate Leadership, Educational Institutions, Investment Climate, Government Support, Regulatory Environment and Communities of Talent.
The authors also describe Ethereum’s meteoric rise since 2016, from newly created startup to platform with a market value of $70 billion today. They also examine some of the new platforms built on the Ethereum blockchain and the current work around identity DApps.
ICOs and tokens were not part of the cryptocurrency landscape of two years ago, so they are explained in detail, as is the ongoing development of smart contracts.
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QUOTES FROM BOOK
“When Blockchain Revolution came out, bitcoin was worth around $7 billion. Today it’s more than twenty-two times that. Bitcoin is the workhorse of the cryptocurrency world and the cryptocurrency that launched a thousand ships.”
“Bitcoin has become a store of hundreds of billions of dollars of value on the most robust computer network ever formed…”
“With the launch of the Lightning Network and other scaling solutions in 2018, bitcoin may also fulfill the promise of its most ardent supporters and obliterate the need for traditional financial intermediaries.”
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“We believe that this next era could be inspired by Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision, designed around a set of implicit principles, and realized by the collaborative spirit of many passionate and equally talented leaders in the community.”