Is Blockchain the next GPT?

Blockchain is the Future

As part of my MIT Sloane executive education, I studied Blockchain technology.  When I chose the class, my pursuit was to explore practical applications for Blockchain outside of crypto currency.  While taking the class, I strangely found myself acting like a college student attending University.  I was eager to have theoretical discussions about the subject, often annoying people at parties or with impromptu phone calls and texts forcing Blockchain as the topic of conversation.  I’m sure I acted as if I’d spent years studying the subject and thought I knew more than I did.  Since I didn’t know any of my classmates, I engaged in these conversations with work colleagues and friends who humored me.

In class, I was being taught that Blockchain displayed all the signs of becoming the next GPT.

A General Purpose Technology, like the steam engine, the internet, artificial intelligence, etc. have 3 primary characteristics:

  1. It becomes pervasive and adopted by most sectors
  2. It develops and improves over time
  3. It catalyzes innovation in complementary technologies.

Does Blockchain check these boxes outside of crypto?

Box 1: It Becomes Pervasive and Adopted by Most Sectors

Medium of exchange

Unit of Account

Store of Value

Box 2: It Develops and Improves Over Time

Box 3: It Catalyzes Complimentary Technologies

Blockchain — Down But Not Out


Brennan BinfordBrennan Binford, Founding Partner at PDG, has been implementing
financial, forecasting, business intelligence, and ERP solutions since 1998. He specializes in revenue and margin forecasting, tax, and learning industry specific practices. Prior to focusing on business intelligence / forecasting, Brennan built and delivered financial and ERP solutions across a wide range of industries. He has a bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Applied Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania and is a Certified Scrum Master (CSM).