Blockchain, or distributed ledger technology, could soon give rise to a new era of the Internet even more disruptive and transformative than the current one.

Blockchain's ability to generate unprecedented opportunities to create and trade value in society will lead to a generational shift in the Internet's evolution, from an Internet of Information to a new generation Internet of Value.

The key to enabling this transition is the formation of a multistakeholder consensus around how the technology functions, its current and potential applications and how to create the regulatory, cultural and organisational conditions for it to succeed.

Report by the World Economic Forum