Preface

Sometimes you choose to write a book, and apparently, sometimes the book chooses you.

The last thing I would have expected to do was to write a book about Blockchain. I serve on a technology advisory group for the State Bar of Arizona. In late 2017, I received a request to help the State Bar’s continuing legal education (CLE) efforts by teaching a class about Blockchain. I provided some of my thoughts and suggested some potential resources for the CLE, though I declined to serve as a presenter.

A few months later, a staff member of the State Bar visited my office in person and requested that I write an article on the topic. She was very insistent and persuasive. She handed me a copy of the then hot-off-the-presses February 2018 edition of Arizona Attorney, the State Bar’s magazine. The cover featured a single headline, “BLOCKCHAIN: What it means for clients, contracts-and law practice.” We discussed the buzz around Blockchain, which was supposed to revolutionize legal and other professions. I explained how I declined an earlier opportunity to present a CLE on the topic, to which she replied, “Dave, what the heck are you doing? At least write an article!”

After she left, I read the Arizona Attorney Blockchain article, which I felt overlooked significant concerns with the technology. I was motivated to write a better, more accurate article!

From the outset of my research, I began to uncover some rather shocking details about what was going on with Blockchain. I also began to appreciate how a growing number of people were expressing a passion for this political-technical movement, which has some real potential power and danger for our society, but is relatively unknown and misunderstood. My article grew and grew to the point where I realized that the only way I could do justice to the subject of Blockchain was to write a book about it.

This book is nonfiction and educational, and it tells the tale of a true-life mystery. As I dug into the details to figure out the truth of what was going on, I found myself reading the software code that creates the Bitcoin blockchain. At that point, it became clear that this book had to be named The Blockchain Code. The DaVinci Code inspired the title of this book, but the connection goes deeper than that. Dan Brown’s excellent mystery novel juggles intricate storylines, puzzles, and plot twists, yet never loses the reader. At one point in writing The Blockchain Code, I re-read The DaVinci Code to see what I could learn from Brown’s approach. I have tried to include just enough detail throughout this book to decrypt this important mystery without overwhelming the reader.

Standing before us is the jungle of complexity that is Blockchain! There is nothing to pack for this expedition. You need only bring a curious and open mind.