The Return of ‘The Nature of the Firm’: The Role of the Blockchain

In this note, I return to Coase (1937), on its 80th anniversary, to assess whether its logic and insight can be reconciled with the blockchain revolution. I argue that, indeed, it can, and propose the existence of a third method of organizing economic activity in a specialized exchange economy, in addition to the two that Coase considered. I call it the cryptographic stigmergy. If there be such merit in the argument here, let it be dedicated to the memory of Ronald Coase.