Why Blockchain Is the New Internet: Don Tapscott Explains the 1995 Moment

What we talked about.

In this episode, Sunny Ray sits down with Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics and co-author of Blockchain Revolution, to trace his journey from studying early workplace computing at Bell Northern Research in 1978 to becoming one of the most influential voices in blockchain. Tapscott explains why he believes blockchain represents an internet of value, a parallel to the internet of information's 1995 moment, and describes the trust protocol that lets assets move peer to peer without intermediaries. He shares how a ski trip conversation with his son Alex led to Blockchain Revolution and the founding of the Blockchain Research Institute, now backed by major global companies. Tapscott also discusses his open letter to the Biden administration recommending self sovereign digital identity, a rethink of cryptocurrency regulation, and a digital dollar. He reflects on how his views on Bitcoin have evolved, referencing a famously conservative price prediction, and closes with thoughts on why technology alone will not fix society's problems without a new social contract for the digital age.

Don Tapscott on why blockchain is the internet's 1995 moment and what it means for money, identity, and government.

The questions, and the answers.

Can you share your origin story, from Edmonton to studying the early internet?

I grew up in Edmonton, was a radical organizing against the Vietnam war and for civil rights, and even ran for mayor as a protest campaign. I later moved to Toronto and took a job at Bell Northern Research in 1978 studying how computers would change work. We proved managers using networked workstations outperformed those using typewriters and paper, which led to my first book in 1982.

What themes from the early internet do you see repeating in the blockchain era?

For 40 years we've had an internet of information, but when you send information you're sending a copy, which doesn't work for assets like money or votes. Alex and I called this the internet of value, where trust comes from cryptography and code rather than middlemen. It's like 1995 again, we haven't seen the blockchain version of Amazon or Google yet.

How did you and your son Alex end up writing Blockchain Revolution together?

On a ski trip we started sharing notes about crypto, he was doing bitcoin deal flow at his bank and I was researching global governance. I asked him to write a paper, which caught the attention of the World Economic Forum and then my publisher. I asked him to quit his banking job and write the book with me, and he said yes.

How did the Blockchain Research Institute attract so many major corporate members?

It follows a syndicated research model I've used since 1989, where companies pay in and we hire the best researchers, like Nick Szabo who invented the smart contract, to study specific problems. We now have around 70 member companies including IBM, Accenture, Microsoft, Fujitsu, FedEx, and Reliance Industries in India.

You mentioned advising the Biden administration. What were the key recommendations in your paper?

We argued America needs a 180 degree turn on five fronts: self sovereign digital identity so people control their own data, a complete rethink of cryptocurrency policy since attitudes like calling bitcoin mainly a crime tool are factually wrong, urgency on a digital dollar, a digital Marshall plan to rebuild federal IT, and steps to build an open, accessible innovation economy.

Has your perspective on Bitcoin specifically evolved over the years?

Bitcoin is the flagship of this whole movement and remains an important store of value, even though it's volatile. Alex and I once predicted bitcoin would surpass two thousand dollars when it was trading around three hundred, and people thought we were crazy. It hit two thousand that year and kept climbing, so we were wrong by an order of magnitude the other way.

What's your outlook on technology's role in improving the world going forward?

Technology alone doesn't fix things, it just gives us another kick at the can. The internet of information did great things but also fragmented public discourse and enabled false narratives. As we enter this next era we need a new social contract, similar to how society adapted laws and institutions when we shifted from the agrarian to the industrial age.