Abstract
The current overwhelming focus on proprietary platform ecosystems unnecessarily limits current platform literature. The introduction of distributed trust technologies such as blockchain enables new business models and strategic possibilities. Adopting a platform lens, we reveal how distributed trust technologies can replace proprietary platform sponsors at the center of platform-based markets, and afford new roles and opportunities for third-party complementors. In this paper we review the key assumptions of the platform literature which are now being violated. We then update the theory for this new reality, in light of recent technological advances. To elucidate the new theory we present the illustrative case of Cryptokitties, the first successful distributed application (“dApp”) built atop a permissionless blockchain platform.
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