Blockchain technology has propelled humanity into the midst of an exciting new industrial revolution. While this immutable data recording network traditionally evokes financial connotations, blockchain has evolved to encompass a variety of radically different disciplines, including music, art, health care, environmental sustainability, and election security. With the growing prevalence of blockchain’s far-reaching applications, in recent years, its societal and cultural influence has come to dominate public consciousness like never before.

From revolutionizing the nature of the music industry, to promoting election integrity, helping safeguard the environment, and enhancing health care system security, blockchain has introduced innovations to nearly every aspect of contemporary life. Its ever-expanding applications have the potential to transform how we vote, how our data is stored, how we purchase art, how users profit from social media, and even how we experience medical care. Blockchain now extends far beyond the bounds of its original fiscal purposes into the realm of chronicling cultural change within our society.

What on earth are NFTs? Why has everyone been talking about bitcoin recently? How did a GIF sell for millions of dollars? At the Harvard Technology Review, our writers explore some of the most compelling topics at the core of human interactions with blockchain, providing academic and personal perspectives on how our society and culture interfaces with blockchain’s swelling tide of digital disruption.