Blockchain Wars: The Future of Big Tech Monopolies and the Blockchain Internet

by Evan McFarland

Big Tech’s 21st century dominance over the Internet is being challenged, creating a new frontier of opportunity for those familiar with the territory. Today’s technology headlines are filled with terms such as bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and Web3, while separately making frequent mention of Big Tech’s censorship, antitrust, and microtargeting. At the middle ground between these topics is a secret war taking place between FAAMG and decentralized technologies over the Internet of tomorrow. Its outcome will, in turn, control the fortunes of corporations, institutions, governments, and individuals. At this future’s foundation is the promising concept of blockchain, whose precise definition and applications have remained frustratingly elusive.

In Blockchain The Future of Big Tech Monopolies and the Blockchain Internet, Evan McFarland deploys an encyclopedic grasp of the blockchain landscape to help tech entrepreneurs, business owners, government leaders, cryptocurrency investors, and other industry professionals fit together the separate pieces of a widely-dispersed technological puzzle that, once solved, will help us improve our daily lives, as well as the trajectory of modern technologies.

A balanced mixture of hard science and bold speculation, Blockchain Wars is the definitive guide to both the present and the future of blockchain technology.

The many topics covered include Web3’s structure; the future of privacy; digital governance; decentralized autonomous organizations; blockchain identities; financial infrastructure; IoT supply chains; organizational transparency; and the Internet Computer.

What’s

The true story of Cambridge Analytica and why data monopolies behave nothing like how journalists depictThe Internet hierarchy dynamic and how it dictates the role and limitations of every entrepreneurThe role of blockchain governance mechanisms in restructuring institutional hierarchiesDetailed descriptions of how a blockchain-based equivalent of FAAMG would operateAn overview of the leading projects racing to create a decentralized InternetA practical guide for how blockchain infrastructure platforms could crush Big Tech and vice versaThings you will

The structure of blockchains and the decentralized InternetThe inner workings of the boldest blockchain solutions in the data management, finance, and industrial spaceHow digital governance works and why it will make or break blockchain technologiesHow blockchain’s interoperability problem will be solvedWhat divisions of blockchain technology are and are not a part of an Internet paradigm shiftThe history of Internet protocols and what that tells us about their future

Genres: Technology, Business

383 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 21, 2021

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars for the specific focus on The Internet Computer. This is one of the more obscure and most complex web3 projects whose backers are uncertain and which has a horrible reputation in the space. One of the main concerns I've seen raised is the emphasis on ICP specific forms of identity that will be mandatory to use the system. Think of ICP as replacing our entire internet. That's the scope of the project which would be fantastic if truly decentralized but a potential nightmare if centrally and privately controlled. This is particularly true when you consider the implications as tied to your digital identity and how those power centers of the new ICP (effectively the new internet if their plan works out) could determine your digital fate.

So the book is presenting the ICP as the best protocol currently for realizing the vision of blockchain, decentralization, web3 etc. At that point it sounds like a cheap shill. The analysis of FAAMG (big tech) is valuable and raises questions and areas of concern that we might not be accustomed to considering. Further he's spot on in that most of crypto is completely wasteful speculation and imitation projects that are doing nothing new over either web2 or even Bitcoin or Ethereum.

So do you need this book? Probably not - you can find the info on FAAMG elsewhere and there's plenty of insightful crypto blogs and sights that will raise the same blockchain questions and concerns addressed here. It does raise important points about why and what we actually need from blockchain but the solution appears to be a shill.

[Loren Picard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was boring, clunky, at times the writing wasn't good, and finally moved along at a snail's pace. Why did I give it five stars? Because it was also insightful, mature, myth and ideal busting, and presents its conclusions in a matter-of-fact manner without any emotion. Sometimes what's good for you isn't the most pleasant. If you are stuck between putting blockchain on a pedestal or outright dismissal, this book will help ground you in reality.

[Stuart Berman · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those invested in Web3 and Blockchain this book is a must read. This is neither a quick read nor a technical book on the mechanics of blockchain. It is a dense book with more than 500 endnotes which ultimately focuses on the business value of blockchain and how the technology is facing many challenges to adoption. I have been highly involved in blockchain, crypto and Web3 and the author is absolutely correct in that very few people in the industry understand the value of blockchain, making this book a standout. What really sets this work apart is that this book is not centered around software but includes hardware/IOT, finance, and principles.

There are five key elements that he dives deeply into:
Decentralization (so many mistake this for distribution rather than governance)
Privacy
Transparency
Governance
Security

[Tom Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Overall I did enjoy the book but found it got pretty dense and repetitive, hence the rating.

I don't think it's one you need to read front to back and instead wish I had jumped around more to parts that interested me. ie Identity Management, Finance etc You could easily skip to the parts that interest you most.

I will refer back to the book in the future as I dive deeper into different parts of the blockchain and it possible solutions.