Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains

From their shadowy origins in Bitcoin to their use by multinational corporations, cryptocurrencies and blockchains are remaking the rules of digital media and society. Meanwhile, regulators, governments, and the public are trying to make sense of it all. In this accessible book, Quinn DuPont guides readers through the changing face of money to show how blockchain technology underpins new forms of value exchange and social coordination. He introduces cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to readers in terms of their developers and users, investment opportunities and risks, changes to politics and law, social and industrial applications - and what this all means for the new economy. The author argues throughout that, rather than being a technical innovation, cryptocurrencies and blockchains are social technologies enabling developers and users to engage in unprecedented experiments with social and political levers. Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains dispenses with hype and offers sober reflection on this crucial and timely topic. It is essential reading for students and scholars of culture, politics, media, and the economy, as well as anyone who wants to understand, take part in, or change the future of work and society.

Acknowledgements vi 1 Experiments in Digital Society 1 2 Origins and Futures of Cryptocurrencies 33 3 Digital Money 58 4 Blockchain Media 81 5 Finance and Capital 115 6 Law and Society 144 7 Internet of Things, Logistics and Smart Manufacturing 170 8 The Promise of New Organizations 193 References 215 Index 233