Many of the problems that plague the digital world come down to the need for strangers to trust each other. Why do you buy products from Amazon but not from an online merchant you’ve never heard of? Because you trust that Amazon will deliver the goods you pay for, and you don’t trust an unknown seller. You don’t want to take a risk with your money.
This fear is rational, and it reflects a foundational problem with today’s internet. It’s a problem that I’ve been working for years to solve using decentralized blockchain technology.
The journey that led me to take up this challenge has been an unusual one. It is a path that has informed my view of the world and technology and shaped the way I think about progress and innovation.
I grew up in a small city of about 2 million. My parents were medical doctors, and they …