When we were planning this special issue back in January, someone asked, “What if most of the things we’re writing about don’t even exist by the time we publish?”
He was being only slightly facetious. As I write this, a bitcoin is trading at little more than a third of its value in December, when it peaked at nearly $20,000. Other cryptocurrencies have taken similar tumbles. Regulators in several countries are cracking down on the unregulated crowdfunding schemes known as initial coin offerings (ICOs), which exploded in 2017. A casual reader of the news might be forgiven for thinking that blockchain mania is over.
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Obviously, we don’t think it is, or you wouldn’t be reading this. Cryptocurrencies and ICOs are just one aspect of the blockchain universe. Other kinds of blockchain startups are still proliferating, and big companies and financial institutions are exploring the technology’s applications. But whatever survives the hype cycle will almost certainly look different from what exists today.
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This issue also marks a new direction for MIT Technology Review. From now on, each of our bimonthly print issues will cover a single topic. Our aim will be to leave you with a better grasp of a complex technological issue and all its ramifications for the world. Please write to gideon.lichfield@technologyreview.com and let me know if we’ve succeeded.