In 2013, nineteen-year-old programmer Vitalik Buterin published the concept of a new platform for creating online services based on blockchain technology. Over the past ten years, Ethereum has become not only the second most popular cryptocurrency but also the foundation for a whole world of decentralized applications, smart contracts, and NFT art.

In his articles, Buterin reflects on the development of crypto-economics and the key ideas behind it — from the specifics of the Ethereum protocol to game theory, public goods funding, and the creation of autonomous network organizations. How can blockchain services help people achieve common goals? Can cryptocurrencies replace traditional financial instruments? Do they lead to the creation of a brave new world where power belongs not to governments and corporations, but to people united by common values and interests, or do they serve as a source of inequality and cynical financial speculation?

In this book, Buterin emerges as an enthusiastic thinker, a profound social theorist, and an activist who contemplates matters far beyond money. He is not afraid to ask difficult questions and propose solutions to controversial problems.