Book forthcoming: How decentralised digital security is organised
Kelsie Nabben
June, 2025
This post shares a high-level outline of a forthcoming book on decentralised digital security. It’s currently with the publisher, and will be open access once released.
Abstract: Without security, digital economies are not possible. Blockchain and related decentralised technologies emerged out of public key cryptography and privacy, and are therefore built on the premise of digital security. This book immerses readers in the multifaceted world of decentralised technology communities through a digital ethnographic lens. It outlines the practices of decentralised technologies — systems designed to function without central control that are driven by community participation — posing the central question of: What can decentralised technology communities teach us about digital security? By drawing on a series of first-hand case studies from the front lines of blockchain security (with thanks to the Security Alliance) and emphasising the intertwined social and technical nature of these systems, this book offers insights into the precarity of online life, as well as the mindset of paranoia and collective security infrastructures and practices that make decentralised technologies possible. Aimed at academics, blockchain users, security practitioners and anyone curious about decentralised digital organising, this book invites readers to critically assess the complex and often-paradoxical relationships between security, privacy, autonomy, technological infrastructure and community. It calls for reflection on the insecurity of existing digital networks, uncovers what decentralised technology communities can teach us about security, and outlines specific ways that security can be improved in the digital era.
Chapters include the foundation of decentralised security, ‘blockchain white hat hackers’, decentralised digital security at scale (including physical threats and DPRK), and an inside take on the Bybit hack: the largest hack in history.
I look forward to sharing more when possible. If this is a topic and interest and you’d like to chat, or arrange a seminar or talk when the book launches, feel free to reach out (https://kelsien.github.io/; https://x.com/kelsiemvn).
