Markets for rules: the promise and peril of blockchain distributed governance

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible contributions of blockchain technology to creating new governance structures that facilitate social cooperation.

Conceptual analysis with key ideas in new institutional economics and political theory is used in this paper.

Blockchain technology provides a new tool through which political entrepreneurs can credibly alienate some of their power within a system of rules that they have established.

This paper links discussion of blockchain entrepreneurship in commercial markets to research into private governance.