Foreword
By Don Tapscott
In early 2014, my son Alex and I began the research for our book Blockchain
Revolution. I had been working on the 20th anniversary edition of The Digital
Economy and reflecting on the last two decades and what’s next, I had become
fascinated by Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, Alex was an executive
with the investment bank Canaccord Genuity. He noticed the growing
enthusiasm of early stage bitcoin and blockchain companies in 2013 and began
leading his firm’s efforts in the space. During a father-son ski trip to Mt.
Tremblant in early 2014, we brainstormed over dinner about collaborating on
this topic and to make a long story short decided to write a book.
We were aware of the writings of Andreas M. Antonopoulos, and our work
quickly drew us into the extensive collection of his speeches on YouTube. I
remember watching and re-watching them for hours and taking extensive notes
throughout. Both Alex and I were struck with the depth of his knowledge, his
fluency explaining complex concepts, and his clarity of thinking. Here was
someone who presents the most difficult of topics in simple terms using strong
analogies and with passion and insight in every talk. I remember thinking "how
can this guy know so much about something so new?”
In one video in 2013 he was filmed talking to others around a table – but
YouTube revealed that tens of thousands of people had watched the discussion.
In another he showed great alacrity in the face of adversity, most memorably in a
brilliant talk about “Bitcoin Neutrality” to a large convention hall with only two
people seated in it. When the camera zoomed in you might think he was talking
to a full theatre based on his energy and expressiveness.
It was good he persevered. Fortunately, both these and other talks were captured
by video and we can all benefit today. With the publication of The Internet of
Money, tightly edited versions of these lectures are sure to be received thankfully
by many, including me. The talks are each unique (no canned presentations
here), unscripted and compelling. There are few people who have the abilities to
speak extemporaneously on any tough topic, let alone on this one.
The early days of most technological revolutions are dominated by the builders,
and there is typically a dearth of deep conceptualizing and lucid explanation.
After all, it took decades after the creation of the Arpanet — the early
incarnation of the internet — for big thinkers to dig into the implications of what
the first generation of the digital revolution might mean for our lives. So it was
with the second era of the Internet — the technology behind digital currencies.
The first years of Bitcoin were dominated by developers and then speculators —
both practitioners, in a sense. Early advocates presented theories about how this
new technology could free us from the shackles of government but the world
needed more than ideological missives to understand the importance broader
significance of crypto currencies. We also needed someone to explain how all
this stuff worked.
Put simply, Andreas stepped up. In fact, I’ll bet history will remember that there
was no one who played a more important role in the early days of explaining
Bitcoin, what it is and what it means. Needless to say when it came to doing indepth
interviews of thought leaders for our own book, we pretty much started
with Andreas.
Reading this collection of essays, it’s amazing to contemplate that Andreas was
waxing poetic and profound years before hardly anyone had even heard of
Bitcoin. However don’t read this for the historical record of a furtive mind.
Rather, read it for its rich insights, which are equally relevant, if not more
relevant, today.
Andreas was on to something big, early. Alex and I agree that a new kind of
Internet is in the making. For the last decades we’ve had the Internet of
Information, but today we’re witnessing the birth of the Internet of Value or as
Andreas calls it The Internet of Money. Everyone, dear reader, needs to
understand this revolution as its impact will surely be as great or greater than the
first era.
Parenthetically, let me note that as a Canadian I’m a direct beneficiary of
Andreas’ furtive mind. In March 2014, the Canadian Senate authorized the
Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce to study digital
currencies, with a particular focus on their potential risks, threats and
advantages. The Senate’s initial interest in the topic was negative, somewhat
motivated by media reports about Bitcoin being used to launder money and
commit crime. Andreas testified before the committee and his session is now
somewhat legendary in blockchain lore. As one Senator told me “he blew our
minds” (a tough thing to do for the gentlemen of this austere Canadian
“Chamber of sober second thought”).
When all was said and done the Senate issued a stellar report that emphasized
the positive opportunities and took a strong position against pre-mature
regulation and interference in the blockchain revolution. Thank you Andreas.
Enjoy this book. If you’re new to the topic, prepare to join Canada’s sober
Senators and have your mind blown too. If you think you know all there is to
know, prepare to be humbled and inspired. I am thankful Andreas took the time
to capture these videos in text as this tome will make an important contribution
to our mutual challenges of ensuring that this new Internet fulfills it’s enormous
potential.
Don Tapscott, Lake of Bays, Ontario Canada. August 20, 2016.
Don Tapscott is the author of 15 books on new technology in society, including
Paradigm Shift, Growing Up Digital, The Digital Economy, Wikinomics,
and most recently with his son Alex Blockchain Revolution: How the
Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money Business and the World. He
is the CEO of the think tank The Tapscott Group; an adjunct Professor at the
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and an Associate of the
Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.
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