There is something new and fundamental happening in the world which could be the start of the next enlightenment period. The core of this is shifting from centralized to decentralized models in all aspects of our lives, both individual and societally.

—Melanie Swan, a technology theorist in the Philosophy Department at Purdue University, writing in “Crypto Enlightenment: A Social Theory of Blockchains,” a paper published by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies