But blockchain could do much more than lower costs. “Civilization, when it comes down to it, is just about rules and the certainty that the rules will probably be upheld. And what blockchain is doing in terms of politics is creating a whole other way of having rules,” he says. At the moment, rules tend to be enforced through leaders, governments, courts, security forces and regulators. “Basically, blockchain is a means of doing the same job, but digitally.”