The Token Society

Limiting the accumulation of power and economic benefits in the hands of a small number of corporations;

Empowering users to impact how platforms are government and participate in value creation; and

Enabling users to transact without compromising their personal information or entrusting it to powerful corporate intermediaries; and

By reducing the cost of monitoring and enforcement, royalties and micro-payments can be applied to many other products and industries, no just to songs by famous artists. Suddenly, we can compensate people for their specific contribution to other types of tasks and projects.

In contrast, a blockchain-based social network would be operated based on pre-programmed rules that enable anyone who abides by these rules to participate. Any change to these rules requires the consent of multiple stakeholders, the process of enacting this change is transparent.

The web in its current state is like a city without public spaces. People can only interact in places owned by someone else, and a small group of landlords captures an oversized share of all economic activity.

Online platforms can monetize our online interactions with people we trust. But what’s really impressive is the ability of such platforms to monetize interactions with people we don’t trust, offline.

But while users no longer have to trust each other, they still have to trust the platform itself. That’s about to change, with consequences for many different professions and society as a whole.

Every act of kindness will become an act of commerce. Is this a nightmare or a dream society?