Blockchain for Laypeople

Blockchain is one of the most hyped and least understood technologies of our time. Let me explain it without the jargon, and then we'll talk about why it matters for building a more equitable world.

The Shared Notebook Analogy

Imagine a notebook that records transactions—who paid whom, who owns what, who voted for what. Traditionally, this notebook is kept by a trusted authority: a bank, a government, a corporation. They decide what gets written, who can read it, and whether to believe disputes.

A blockchain is a shared notebook that no single authority controls. Instead, thousands of computers around the world each keep a copy. When someone wants to add a new entry, the network verifies it according to agreed-upon rules. Once verified, the entry is added to everyone's copy simultaneously.

The key innovation: once something is written, it cannot be erased or altered. The history is permanent and transparent. No one—not a government, not a corporation, not a hacker—can change the record.

Why This Matters

Throughout history, those who control the records control the truth. Colonial powers erased Indigenous land titles. Banks redlined neighborhoods, denying loans based on race. Authoritarian governments rewrite history. Women's contributions are systematically omitted from the record.

Blockchain creates records that cannot be erased or altered by the powerful. Property rights that survive regime change. Financial histories that can't be denied. Votes that can't be manipulated. Contributions that can't be written out.

The Trust Problem

Traditional systems require us to trust institutions: banks won't lose our money, governments won't seize our assets, companies won't change the terms. But for many people—especially women in many parts of the world—these institutions have never been trustworthy.

Blockchain replaces trust in institutions with trust in mathematics. The system works not because someone promises it will, but because the code makes it impossible for it not to. This is called “trustless” systems—a confusing term that really means you don't have to trust anyone because the system enforces the rules automatically.

Limitations

Blockchain is not a solution to everything. It's slow and energy-intensive (though newer systems are improving). It can't verify information from the physical world without trusted sources. And it doesn't solve the problem of who writes the rules in the first place.

Technology is never neutral. The same tool that could protect dissidents can be used for surveillance. The same system that could bank the unbanked can be used for speculation that harms the poor. What matters is who builds it and for whom.