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Blockchains have been hailed as a game-changing institutional technology. Most of the analysis of blockchains focuses on their uses in the Global North. Though there is increasing consideration of their uses in the Global South, few studies consider the uses of blockchains in fragile states. In this paper, we consider the potential for blockchain deployments by governments, international organizations, and citizens in fragile states. We find that government deployments are unlikely in fragile states, though blockchains can be useful through their increasing use by aid organizations and by providing people with opportunities, such as access to cryptocurrencies. Blockchains may be revolutionary, but the extent to which they have improved the lives of people in fragile states is questionable.

Researchers interested in blockchains are increasingly attuned to questions of governance, including how blockchains relate to government, the ways blockchains are governed, and ways blockchains can improve prospects for successful self-governance. Our paper joins this research by exploring the implications of the Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) framework to analyze governance of blockchains. Our novel contributions are making the case that blockchain networks represent knowledge commons governance, in the sense that they rely on collectively-managed technologies to pool and manage distributed information, illustrating the usefulness and novelty of the GCK methodology with an empirical case study of the evolution of Bitcoin, and laying the foundation for a research program using the GKC approach.

Researchers interested in blockchains are increasingly attuned to questions of governance, including how blockchains relate to government, the ways blockchains are governed, and ways blockchains can improve prospects for successful self-governance. Our paper joins this research by exploring the implications of the Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) framework to analyze governance of blockchains. Our novel contributions are making the case that blockchain networks represent knowledge commons governance, in the sense that they rely on collectively-managed technologies to pool and manage distributed information, illustrating the usefulness and novelty of the GCK methodology with an empirical case study of the evolution of Bitcoin, and laying the foundation for a research program using the GKC approach.