In this module, you'll meet all the players in the blockchain ecosystem. We call them stakeholders because they all have a stake in blockchain success. Guess what, you're one of them. Welcome. Exactly which one is up to you? We'll look at each of their roles so you can decide for yourself. We'll focus on something we call governance. Not government, meaning, regulation designed to control behavior. We're talking governance, meaning, stewardship, collaboration, and incentives to act in our common interests. Without governance, the internet wouldn't be what it is today, a global network of interoperable networks all using the same standards and protocols. No government controls the internet, it's managed by an ecosystem. We'll look at the governance of blockchain on three levels. First is a platform level. There you'll find protocols like the Bitcoin peer-to-peer electronic cash system, and the Ethereum, Turing-complete virtual computer. Second is the application level, where you have distributed apps such as everything from apps for supply chains, healthcare, records in the music industry to the so-called initial coin offerings or ICOs. Third, the ecosystem level where stakeholders from different industries and jurisdictions come together to shape this technology's future. In this module, you'll see some diverse perspectives industry pioneers like Eric Foyes or Roger Veya, venture capitalists like Andreessen Horowitz and the Winkle Boss Twins, Visionaries like Vitalik Butiere and Nick Zabal and academic leaders like Joey Ito and the MIT Media Lab, governments some huge and heavy handed like China, others with less land and lighter touch like Gibraltar, bankers and investors who were the first to form an industry blockchain consortium, advocates like Perianne Boring, founder of the Chamber of Digital Commerce who sees the need for organization, and she's doing something about it, coders, end-users, and forward-looking students like you. You'll be able to describe these stakeholder groups and their roles in blockchain stewardship. On behalf of our academic partner in Seattle and my collaborator, Alex Tap Scott, thank you for joining us. Next up, an introduction to the blockchain ecosystem.