Preliminary Reflections on the Ontological Significance of Blockchain Technology for Trust and Trustworthiness

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a great deal of excitement regarding the promise of blockchain technology (Aste et al. 2017). Yet, not all of this excitement has been positive (Schneier 2019). In fact, the furore raised by the assurance afforded by the capacities of blockchain technology (henceforth: Blockchain) is multifaceted: three such are noteworthy. The first is that Blockchain precipitates a reshaping of our social reality (Reijers & Coeckelbergh 2018). The second is that Blockchain can be trusted (Aste et al. 2017). The third is that Blockchain can “optimize” trust (Swan & De Filippi 2017). For this discussion, I shall focus only on the aforementioned three claims, namely: (1) reshaping our social reality (2) bearing the onus of trust (3) optimization of trust. These three claims clearly have implications for one another. Were Blockchain able to reshape the social reality, then it would thereby reshape trust. This would, in turn, influence the answer to the question: ‘Can one trust Blockchain?’ This would, likewise, influence an answer to the question, namely: Can Blockchain “optimize” trust?, by the simple fact that it would affect the very nature of the item Blockchain putatively can optimize. The upshot here being: How do these claims form, if at all, a coherent rationally evaluable picture of Blockchain’s potential effects in human affairs of great value given, at the very least, the clear implications the first claim has for the latter two? In this paper, I shall attempt to answer this fundamental question by means of an examination of the associated respective claims. However, in doing so, I shall focus on the first claim and its implications for the other two. What this means is that I shall proceed on the supposition that Blockchain can reshape our social reality. Then, from this supposition, examine how the social ontology of trust and trustworthiness must need be affected. Nonetheless, I shall, through the course of the examination, also evaluate the trust-based claims of Blockchain: as to its trustworthiness and ability to optimize both trust and trustworthiness. 1.