How Blockchain Whitepapers Became Worldbuilding Documents

Author's note: This essay is adapted from Dreaming Systems, my ongoing memoir about blockchain, technological optimism, and the futures we imagined before they existed.

In 2017, my inbox changed.

I had started freelancing not long before, looking for a way to connect my professional background with my interests. I wrote about medicine, technology, and the overlap between the two. One of my early assignments was for a US-based blog that wanted a piece about possible applications of blockchain technology in healthcare.

I said yes. Then I googled what blockchain was again.

The assignment went well. More importantly, once the word blockchain appeared in my portfolio on a freelancer platform, new requests began to arrive. Clients seemed to be drawn to the keyword the way procrastinating students are drawn to cat videos.

At first, I was slightly puzzled. The requests were no longer really about healthcare. Everyone simply wanted blockchain...

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