The best global venture capitalist, Chris Dixon, will publish a new book on the blockchain trend titled “Read Write Own”. The traditional Chinese edition of the book, approved by Hsu Ming-en, the founder of “Block Trend”, has become a bestseller in The New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Books. Although it has not been released in Taiwan, it has attracted a lot of attention from readers. Dixon delves into the evolution of the internet from the WEB1 era in the 1990s to WEB3 in 2021, analyzing how internet power and economic benefits will shift from companies back to users, heralding the imminent arrival of freedom and representation for individual creators.
Blockchain breaks the model of companies profiting from the internet, allowing creators to regain their freedom. The current structure of the internet world channels the majority of users into a few mainstream social networks, and creators who want to gain traffic have to abide by the rules set by these social media giants. After working hard on their creations, they end up losing a large portion of their income to the platforms, resulting in a homogenization of creative content and the suppression of freedom of imagination.
However, decentralized community networks built on blockchain offer the promise of fair distribution of economic benefits. With transparent transaction fees, creators can retain reasonable profits, which incentivizes them to invest more in their works. This, in turn, attracts fan support through diverse creations, creating a positive cycle of income and creativity.
Dixon analyzes in his book, “We can nurture more creativity and transmit more truth through the internet, no longer stifling these precious contents. We can use blockchain to create community networks, establish niche markets for countless subcultures, and distribute economic benefits more fairly. This will enable more users to find works they truly love and more creators to meet unwavering fans.”
The importance of digital ownership. Blockchain completely disrupts the existing operating model of the world. By flipping the relationship of digital ownership through tokens, blockchain returns the ownership of the internet to users. Many people have become accustomed to the norms of corporate networks, where registering on a website means that the services purchased can only be used within that website and cannot be transferred. Having to register again and start from scratch each time they visit a new website would surely annoy people in the physical world.
The concept of ownership is deeply ingrained in our lives, but online it is subject to the rules of corporate networks, leaving us powerless.
Dixon says, “Many new startup ideas require ownership, and ownership is also a necessary condition for breakthroughs to take effect. … As long as it does not violate laws such as patents, ownership is a fundamental freedom. You don’t need to seek any permission before innovating.”
Overcoming high transaction fees, blockchain networks turn payment systems into public goods. In theory, online payments should be as simple, user-friendly, and inexpensive as text communication. However, in reality, transferring funds from the payer to the payee involves a series of coordination between payment platforms and compliance checks with financial regulations. One careless mistake could lead to fraud and theft.
Dixon optimistically points out that blockchain can solve this problem: its built-in fundraising capabilities and low transaction fees attract more talent to develop payment networks, which opens up new possibilities for small payments. The decentralized financial network makes funds more secure and the system more equal.
Dixon says, “Since forever, the financial system has been a centralized system mainly controlled by profit-making companies. But the act of making transactions and payments does not require centralized management. The blockchain network can turn the financial infrastructure into public goods. Since the internet can handle information, it can certainly handle currency.”
“Read Write Own” is available in two major bookstores with exclusive limited-time offers. Eslite Bookstore offers the first batch of limited edition softcover versions, which come with exquisite bindings and silk bookmarks, providing readers with the best reading experience.
Books.com offers an exclusive limited edition “NFT Generated Art Card” from the United States, which can be collected by scanning the art card that comes with the book, featuring a thousand AI-generated digital sun NFTs matching the book cover. The art card is a limited pre-order gift for the US version of “Read Write Own”, allowing Taiwanese readers to own it simultaneously. It is the most valuable digital art gift of this summer.
