My friend Jeff Garzik (bitcoin core dev) nailed it on Twitter:
This single-chain thinking is not scalable. Memo to Counterparty, Mastercoin, Ethereum, et. al. The future is an Internet Of Chains.
He's right.
It's the same conclusion I stumbled into while doing some scifi writing over the past couple of weeks -- the scenario building required really zooms my systems thinking in a very good way.
Let me recast this a bit. The future of the Internet is a confederation of chains.
Chains that'll do almost everything.
Chains that act like companies (without any of that "organic and financial overhead" that costs us so much).
Chains that cut across borders.
Chains for closed social networks. Chains for virtual legal systems. Chains for industries...
Even chains for global insurgencies and alternative economies (the topic of my new book).
Lots of chains.
It's inevitable at this point. Bitcoin was simply the plausible promise of what was possible with this tech.
I'm also getting a very good feel for how this is going to roll out and what I'm seeing is pretty cool.
How so?
The rollout of these blockchains is going to be full on creative destruction.
Chains will generate or control more wealth in the next two decades than the world has produced since inception.
They also enable us to destroy wealth with equal alacrity by allowing us to shift our thinking on what we consider valuable (to the old and currently wealthy --> you are toast).
This is going to be fun. To the victors the spoils!