Blockchain Wars: The Future of Big Tech Monopolies and the Blockchain Internet

One week after this book was on the market, Margaret Mitchell was fired from Google after publishing a paper in which she alerts on the danger AI trained with massive amount of data.While the media coverage is almost nonexistent, this book gave me hope in our future.Starting with the first internet protocols, you will learn about blockchain, cryptocurrencies projects, web 3.0 and decentralization but more importantly you will learn why the world needs these projects and what urgent problems they can solve (and what they can’t solve as well!).This book is far ahead of any other content I’ve ever found on these subjects, the author uses academia research papers and is well documented on the current state of blockchains’ startup/cryptocurrency projects.The author crystalized accurately some ideas that were in my mind.It should be read by anyone concerned with new technologies, the Internet, BigTech or any other related subject.Be prepared because the book is dense in information, so you need to read with full focus; but this book definitely deserves your full attention.

Very well-written. Almost too well-written considering one person/author, a recent college graduate who might be qualified to talk about the subject matters in the is book. No mention of an editor or publisher. The author states, on page 286, he has “no affiliation with and have never received any form of compensation from the DFINITY Foundation or related organizations.”Did the author receive any SUPPORT from anyone at DFINITY or anyone associated with DFINITY? With nearly 20 years of professional experience as it relates to due-diligence, and personal experience having read thousands of books, I would suggest there’s something more here. For that reason, I will pass on recommending this book.

Still reading but the utter lack of a bio or the author’s credentials is a bit disconcerting.

I think of McFarland as a crypto oracle. He is always ahead of his time but never too far, rather he hits at just the right moment. His book "Blockchain Wars" is a testimony to that. His incredible insights and ideas on the emerging blockchain market comes at the perfect time for the savvy investor or innovator to capitalize on them either through investments or entrepreneurship in the space. I found him through his YouTube channel Altcoin Analysis last summer. Looking back, I was truly impressed with all of the gems he called so far in advance that have now exploded in price. Evan writes in a clear and easy to understand format allowing for both enthusiast and layperson to understand complex ideas. I cannot recommend this book enough!

I have the paperback, which is 311 pages plus about 60 pages of footnotes. The book is well-written and the author provides his candid opinions, which I appreciated.The book starts off by describing "blockchains" as "fancy databases." These promote accuracy, immutability and transparency. These qualities are not common in the internet that all of us use today.The current internet is dominated by the FAAMG, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google. The author clearly states that these companies are not evil, but their ad based and other revenue streams bias their operations and adversely effect users of the internet. The book looks at how use of the blockchain in a decentralized internet could remediate these negative effects.The book considers numerous technical issues such as identifying users, privacy, governance, complexity, privacy or its loss, architectural effects and solutions, and many other aspects of the internet as it exists today.He considers why the FAAMG dominates the internet today and in one section considers how each of these companies might be reformed to permit a system with more user friendly aspects than they currently possess. While I appreciate the author's effort, this section seemed like fantasy to me.The author is deeply informed on these matters. He cited companies and initiatives in the internet that I had never encountered, but when I went online I found that these companies and initiatives existed and were doing what he said they were. My trust in his thoughts grew.Looking at his description of the FAAMG, I have to say that I am not optimistic that the vision of blockchain replacing these monoliths will occur. I think the author views this as a long major as well.At the end of the book he looks at Ethereum and Dfinity as possible candidates to use blockchain to supplant the current internet architecture. Dfinity was a new name to me. The scope of their work was truly surprising. Learning of Dfinity was valuable.There is much more to the book than I have listed. Fintech, for instance, gets careful consideration. In my opinion the book is about the status of the internet as viewed through the lens of blockchain. If the subject interests you, I recommend the book.