Theorizing from Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Design of Blockchains and Distributed Ledger Systems (Part 2)

This concluding chapter further develops the “three layer” model (i.e., the social, data/records and technical layers) of distributed ledger technology (DLT), which was used as a framework during the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies’ Workshop on The Truth Machine: Exploring the Social, Records and Technical Potential and Pitfalls of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies and in previous chapters to explore five key themes commonly associated with DLT systems: governance, incentives, security, decentralization, and provenance. An integrative multidisciplinary ontological framework is proposed as a basis for synthesizing the workshop participants’ emergent understanding of the layers and the key themes. Systems theory is then drawn upon, with the goal of refining and offering a model to both describe and aid the design of DLT systems. Such a scientific model has the power to describe a range of DLT systems, serve as an engineering design model to facilitate assessment of design alternatives, and generate the creation of new (and better) designs. While acknowledging the bounds and limitations of the “three layer” model (and of all models), the authors hope it will serve as a starting point for future research to develop a deeper understanding of DLT systems and how they might best be designed.