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White PaperRealizing the Potential of BlockchainA Multistakeholder Approach to the Stewardship of Blockchain and CryptocurrenciesJune 2017World Economic Forum91-93 route de la CapiteCH-1223 Cologny/GenevaSwitzerlandTel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212Fax: +41 (0)22 786 2744Email: contactweforumweforumWorld Economic Forum 2017 All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.REF 240617 00034436ContentsPreface 2Executive Summary 3The Blockchain as a New Global Resource 4New Thinking in How to Steward a Global Resource: The Internet as a Case Study 5Blockchain Governance Challenges 71. Stewardship of platforms 102. Stewardship of applications 243. Stewardship of the ecosystem as a whole 27The Players in the Blockchain Ecosystem 32The “Global Solution Networks” (GSN) Framework Applied to Blockchain 34Standards networks: Dont deify differences; codify common ground 36Networked institutions: Welcome stakeholders everywhere 37Advocacy networks: Respect members interests and constraints 38Watchdog networks: Do no harm 38Policy networks: Participate in debate and coordinate regulation 39Knowledge networks: Know what you dont know 40Delivery networks: Keep incentives for mass collaboration in mind 41Summary: What Needs to Be Done 42About the Authors 45Appendix: Global Solution Networks 46Knowledge networks 46Operational and delivery networks 48Policy networks 49Advocacy networks 49Standards networks 50Networked institutions 51Acknowledgements 51Notice 51Endnotes 53White Paper Authors:Don Tapscott and Alex TapscottThe views expressed in this White Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum or its Members and Partners. White Papers are submitted to the World Economic Forum as contributions to its insight areas and interactions, and the Forum makes the final decision on the publication of the White Paper. White Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and further debate.3Realizing the Potential of BlockchainPrefaceDistributed ledger technology promises to have far-reaching economic and social implications. By leveraging a global peer network to assure directly and transparently the integrity of value exchanged between parties, blockchain appears likely to transform a number of important industries that supply or rely upon third-party assurance. It could prove to be a broader force for transparency and integrity in society, including in the fight against bribery and corruption. It could also lead to extensive changes in supply chains and governmental functions, such as central banking. The extent to which this new technology realizes its potential will depend in substantial part upon how well stakeholders steward its development. There remain important open governance questions regarding both the functioning of the technology and its current and potential applications.The World Economic Forum and its new Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is pleased to publish this foundational survey of blockchain governance challenges and multistakeholder cooperation opportunities. Authored by Don and Alex Tapscott, leading experts on both blockchain and multistakeholder governance, this White Paper provides a structured analytical framework and taxonomy for use by industry, technical, governmental, civil society and other stakeholders in considering how they might collaborate to resolve problems and unlock opportunities beyond the reach of any single actor.As Don and Alex emphasize, a distributed ecosystem need not be a disorganized one, and improved governance need not imply formal governmental legislation or regulation. A cooperative process of multistakeholder dialogue and stewardship can go a long way in improving trust and helping new technological systems develop in a socially beneficial manner. This is the animating purpose of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: to provide an international platform for public-private dialogue and cooperation in respect of the stewardship and agile governance of new technologies. We thank the authors for their contribution, which we believe provides a solid foundation for precisely such a process in respect of blockchain. We also thank members of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the Future of Blockchain and others who provided feedback on the White Paper, which expresses the perspectives of the authors alone and not necessarily those of the Forum as an institution or its individual Members and constituents.Richard SamansHead of the Center for the Global Agenda and Member of the Managing Board Zvika KriegerHead of Technology Policy and PartnershipsGeneva and San Francisco, June 20174 Realizing the Potential of BlockchainExecutive SummaryLike the first generation of the internet, this second generation promises to disrupt business models and transform industries. Blockchain (also called distributed ledger), the technology enabling cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum, is pulling us into a new era of openness, decentralization and global inclusion. It leverages the resources of a global peer-to-peer network to ensure the integrity of the value exchanged among billions of devices without going through a trusted third party. Unlike the internet alone, blockchains are distributed, not centralized; open, not hidden; inclusive, not exclusive; immutable, not alterable; and secure. Blockchain gives us unprecedented capabilities to create and trade value in society. As the foundational platform of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,1it enables such innovations as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, the internet of things (IoT), robotics and even technology in our bodies, so that more people can participate in the economy, create wealth and improve the state of the world.However, this extraordinary technology may be stalled, sidetracked, captured or otherwise suboptimized depending on how all the stakeholders behave in stewarding this set of resources i.e. how it is governed.Like the first era of the internet, this blockchain era should not be governed by nation states, state-based institutions or corporations. How we govern the internet of information as a global resource serves as a model for how to govern this new resource: through a multistakeholder approach using what we call “global governance networks” a concept developed in our previous multimillion-dollar programme investigating multistakeholder networks for global problem-solving.2We discuss seven types of networks: standards networks, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force; knowledge networks, such as the Internet Research Task Force; delivery networks, such as the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers; policy networks, such as the Internet Policy Research Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); advocacy networks, such as the Alliance for Affordable Internet; watchdog networks, such as the Electronic Freedom Forum; and networked institutions, such as the World Economic Forum.We explain the core differences between the internet of information as a network of similar networks and the blockchain as a balkanized internet of value, where real assets are at stake. Then we cover what we have found to be the most urgent threats to this resource, which we view as governance challenges. By governance, we mean stewardship, which involves collaborating, identifying common interests and creating incentives to act on them. We do not mean government, regulation or top-down control. We explore governance needs at three levels: platform, application and the ecosystem as a whole.Unlike the internet of information, which is a vast network of similar networks, this internet of value requires stewardship at not just one level but three. At the platform level, we look at bitcoins scalability issue and energy consumption, Ethereums switch to proof-of-stake and crisis management by consensus, and Hyperledgers call for both urgency and moderation around standards. At the application level, we look at the need for oversight, skilled talent and user-friendly interfaces. At the overall ecosystem level, we look at the need for a proper legal structure, regulatory restraint, diversity of viewpoints and scientific research in tandem with business development. We introduce each of the eight stakeholders in the ecosystem: innovators, venture capitalists, banks and financial services, developers, academics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government bodies, and users or citizens.We apply our previously developed “global solution networks”3(GSN) framework to blockchain governance. We urge stakeholders in the space to codify their common ground through standards networks; welcome stakeholders with radically diverse views of what needs to be done through networked institutions; respect members interests and constraints through advocacy networks; ensure that no one does any harm through watchdog networks; participate in policy debates and coordinate regulation through policy networks; get up to speed through knowledge networks; and keep incentives for mass collaboration in mind through delivery networks. Finally, we outline the most pressing governance work to be done, if we are to preserve and steward this new global resource to achieve its vast potential. 5Realizing the Potential of BlockchainThe Blockchain as a New Global ResourceThe internet is entering a second era thats based on blockchain. The last few decades brought us the internet of information. We are now witnessing the rise of the internet of value. Where the first era was sparked by a convergence of computing and communications technologies, this second era will be powered by a clever combination of cryptography, mathematics, software engineering and behavioural economics. It is blockchain technology, also called distributed ledger technology. Like the internet before it, the blockchain promises to upend business models and disrupt industries. It is pushing us to challenge how we have structured society, defined value and rewarded participation.Blockchain emerged in the wake of the global economic crisis, when a pseudonymous person or persons named Satoshi Nakamoto released a new protocol for “A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” using a cryptocurrency called bitcoin.4Cryptocurrencies (digital currencies) are different from traditional fiat currencies because no government issues or controls them. Theyre not saved in a file somewhere; theyre represented by transactions recorded in a blockchain like a global spreadsheet or ledger, which leverages the resources of a large peer-to-peer bitcoin network to verify and approve each bitcoin transaction. Satoshis protocol established a set of rules in the form of distributed computations that ensured the integrity of the data exchanged among billions of devices without going through a trusted third party. This new resource has six critical qualities.Each blockchain, like the one that uses bitcoin, is distributed: it runs on computers provided by volunteers around the world; there is no central database to hack or shut down. We can send money and soon any form of digitized value from stocks and bonds to intellectual property, art, music and even votes directly and safely between us without going through a bank, a credit-card company, PayPal or Western Union, social network, government or other middleman. Of course, this does not mean that middlemen will disappear. Rather the technology provides profound opportunities for innovative companies and institutions in the middle to streamline processes, increase their metabolism, create new value and enter new markets.Blockchain is encrypted: it uses heavy-duty encryption involving public and private keys (rather like the two-key system to access a safety deposit box) to maintain virtual security. We neednt worry about the weak firewalls of the US Democratic National Party, a thieving staffer of Morgan Stanley or a perversely incentivized employee of Wells Fargo.In many cases, blockchain is public: anyone can view it at any time because it resides on the network, not within a single institution charged with auditing transactions and keeping records. No one can hide a transaction, and that makes bitcoin more traceable than cash. It is open-source code: anyone can download it for free, run it and use it to develop new tools for managing transactions online. Private blockchains have emerged that dont use cryptocurrency for consensus.Blockchain is, for the most part, inclusive. Satoshi imagined that the typical person would be interacting with the blockchain through what he called “simplified payment verification” mode that can work on a mobile device.5Now anyone with a flip phone can participate in the global economy; no documentation is required to be trusted.Blockchain is immutable. Within minutes or even seconds, all the transactions conducted are verified, cleared and stored in a block that is linked to the preceding block, thereby creating a chain. Each block must refer to the preceding block to be valid. This structure permanently timestamps and stores exchanges of value, preventing anyone from altering the ledger.Blockchain is historical. If we wanted to steal a bitcoin, wed have to rewrite a coins or assets entire history on the blockchain in broad daylight. So the blockchain is a distributed ledger representing a network consensus of every transaction that has ever occurred. Therefore, we must preserve the blockchain in its entirety. Thats why storage matters.This is much more than the financial services industry. Innovators are programming this new digital ledger to record anything of value to humankind birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, deeds and titles of ownership, rights to intellectual property, educational degrees, financial accounts, medical history, insurance claims, citizenship and voting privileges, location of portable assets, provenance of food and diamonds, job recommendations and performance ratings, charitable donations tied to specific outcomes, employment contracts, managerial decision rights and anything else that we can express in code.So important is this new resource that some have called the blockchain a public utility like the internet, a utility that requires public support. Paul Brody, principal and global innovation leader of blockchain technology at Ernst & Young, thinks that all our appliances should donate their processing power to the upkeep of a blockchain: “Thanks to the smartphone business drivi
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