Blockchain: Data Malls, Coin Economies, and Keyless Payments

Abstract

The authors discuss several uses of blockchain and, more generally, distributed ledger technologies outside of cryptocurrencies. They take a pragmatic view, focusing on three main areas: the role of coin economies for “data malls” (specialized data marketplaces), data provenance (a historical record of data and its origins), and “keyless payments,” which are payments that can be made without having to know other users’ cryptographic keys. They also discuss voting and other areas and give a sizable list of academic and nonacademic references.