Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy

and delivered via the blockchain. One

example of more granular government

services could be a situation in which

smart cities issue Roadcoin to

compensate passing-by drivers for lost

#QualityofLife in road construction

projects. Likewise, there could be

Accidentcoin that those involved in an

accident pay to similarly compensate

passing-by drivers for lost

#QualityofLife; payment could be

immediate, and shifted later as insurance

companies assess blame.

In science-fiction parlance, it could be

said that franchulates as envisioned in

Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash are

finally on the horizon. 106 Franchulates

are the concept of a combination of a

franchise and consulate, businesses that

provide fee-based quasigovernmental

services consumed by individuals as any

other product or service, a concept that

blockchain governance could make

possible. One attractive aspect of the

franchulates concept is the attitudinal

shift: the idea that governments need to

become more like businesses and less of

a default monopoly provider of

government services; they should have a

more proactive relationship with

consumer-citizens, offering value

propositions and services that are

demanded and valued by different

market segments of constituents.

Another implication of blockchain

governance is that one vision behind

“government on the blockchain” or

“putting a nation on the blockchain” is

that a more truly representative

democracy might be obtained. One way

of effectuating this is, rather than having

to rely on human agents as

representatives, using blockchain smart

contracts and DACs. Having many fewer

people involved in the governance

apparatus could potentially mean

smaller, less costly government, less

partisanship, and less special-interest

lobbyist-directed government. As

blockchain technology makes financial

systems more efficient, squeezing the

marginal cost down to zero, so too could

blockchain technology reconfigure the

tasks of governance and public

administration. The costs savings of

smaller government could proceed

directly to Guaranteed Basic Income

initiatives, promoting equality and

political participation in society and

easing the transition to the automation

economy.

The advent of the blockchain and

decentralized models calls into question

more generally the ongoing validity of

population-sized pooled models like

government and insurance that have been

de facto standards because other models

were not yet possible. However, pooled

models might no longer make economic

or political sense. Consensus-driven

models could be a superior solution

economically and offer a more

representative and equitable way of

interacting with reality, moving to an

open frame of eradicating situations of

illiberty. 107 The blockchain-as-an-

information-technology idea is further

underscored in blockchain governance

as a new, more efficient system for

organizing, administering, coordinating,

and recording all human interactions,

whether business, government, or

personal. The advent of blockchain

technology calls into question the more

effective execution of government

services, but also government-backed

rights, which in some cases by design do

not (and should not) respect

individuality. So far, most projects have

addressed only the governance services

side, so there is an opportunity to

develop interesting blockchain-based

models for rights enforcement.

Decentralized Governance

Services

Choose your government and choose

your services. This is the idea of putting

the nation-state on the blockchain, in the

sense of offering borderless,

decentralized, opt-in blockchain-based

governance services.108 These kinds of

services could include an ID system

based on reputation, dispute resolution,

voting, national income distribution, and

registration of all manner of legal

documents such as land deeds, wills,

childcare contracts, marriage contracts,

and corporate incorporations. In fact, the

blockchain—with its structure that

accommodates secure identities,

multiple contracts, and asset

management—makes it ideal for

situations such as marriage because it

means a couple can tie their wedding

contract to a shared savings account

(e.g., a Bitcoin wallet) and to a

childcare contract, land deed, and any

other relevant documents for a secure

future together. 109

Indeed, the world’s first blockchain-

recorded marriage occurred at

Disneyworld, Florida, on October 5,

2014 (Figure 3-2). The marriage was

submitted to the Bitcoin blockchain,

using the blockchain’s property of being

an online public registry. The vows

were transmitted in the text annotation

field, embedded in a Bitcoin transaction

of 0.1 Bitcoins ($32.50), to appear

permanently in the blockchain ledger.110

Liberty.me CEO Jeffrey Tucker

officiated at the ceremony and discussed

the further benefits of denationalized

marriage in the context of marriage

equality, how marriage can be more

equitably and permissively recorded and

recognized in a blockchain than in many

states and nations at present. 111 One

indication that the “blockchain as public

documents registry” has truly arrived