With the recent collapse of FTX and the implosion of the crypto space, blockchain technology has garnered a poor reputation. However, there is great value in exploring its utility to community self-governance and the management of public goods. As such, this working paper examines the application of blockchain to decentralised governance through Elinor Ostrom’s (1933 – 2012) Institutional Analysis and Development model. It studies how blockchain can be used to facilitate effective resource distribution in the digital space by increasing transparency, openness, and immutability, as well as punishing bad behaviour and rewarding good behaviour. By doing so, it sheds light on a digital tool that can help create self-governing communities without the need for the intervention of a higher authority.
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