One of the books I read recently is titled, The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything, by Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna. It is about how blockchain, our shared digital, verifiable ledger page, traces and verifies transactions and, in the process, creates a transparent trail of ownership (and authorship) that can be followed back to its origin. Blockchain establishes a chain of linked transactions that are validated by hundreds of thousands of cross-checked digital ledger pages before each link is added to the chain.
Blockchain is also the basis for cryptocurrency, which was the topic of my December 2021 newsletter article. Interestingly, a friend of mine recently started a nonprofit to assist low-income artists in their work. One possible source of funding for them is NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). NFTs have become a way for artists to support themselves by selling unique digital copies of their art. It’s encouraging to see technology used in a way that supports the artist.
For those of us who are curious about cryptocurrency, I think you’ll find this video of a discussion group session in which I participated a great introduction to crypto, Bitcoin, and how to get started.