Computational Accounting and Blockchain Ledgers
However, this may not be the case. From the market perspective, people even want to insert NFT solutions into the BTC chain, which inevitably makes one wonder: What exactly is the path laid by BTC, and what are the “cornerstones” and “directions”? People seem to be taking parallel paths, leaping, going in the wrong direction, and creating too many branches.
Pando recently updated a “What is DeFi” page, and what I found interesting is that the page mentions “Computational Accounting” twice. This concept seems to be re-examining what exactly BTC has provided.
The discussion about BTC has never stopped since 2009, a span of 14 years. Each exciting discussion is likely to create a huge bubble, such as the statement that “blockchain is a database.” At present, this statement doesn’t seem to be a redeemable argument.
Yes, we are discussing the “argument” issue. Are we saying that the blockchain provides a ledger, or are we saying it provides a database technology model? The latter unfolds a vast imagination, and the process of writing other data into the accounting database has generated a lot of cost, efficiency, and future discussions and practices. It has also created bubbles and many semi-finished products.
Perhaps, building on the cornerstone of “it’s a ledger” and exploring the direction of a public, tamper-proof ledger might be more direct and accurate. You’ll find that, after 14 years, we have squeezed out some unrealistic expectations of BTC and returned to the core, simple, and clear functionality of “currency with value storage” — as long as it’s important enough, it can be simple enough. Likewise, abandoning the “database” expansion of blockchain and returning to the ledger can also provide a more accurate direction for practice and exploration.
I have recently been overwhelmed with dealing with bookkeeping and accounting matters and have paid a considerable cost. It is quite frustrating.
“Computational Accounting” is not a blockchain term. We can directly infer that computers are heavily involved in the accounting field, from computation to analysis, structural presentation, and cloud computing participation. However, placing this term in the “crypto world” and starting anew with blockchain as the starting point, I think it’s a good idea, and I even believe it will develop and become something people look forward to.
Due to substantial interests, the current monitoring of BTC’s liquidity is quite comprehensive, including the number of wallets, large whale wallets, and how many BTCs are flowing in and out of exchanges. Because of the public and tamper-proof nature of the blockchain ledger, everyone can participate in BTC accounting activities. Extensive monitoring and tracking have already demonstrated the appearance of “computational accounting.”
If this logic is applied to the internal settlement of an entire company, from liquidity, bookkeeping, budgeting, analysis, financial statements, and auditing, all based on an internal public ledger and fully automated through algorithms, real-time reporting can be achieved — fully realizing the value of the “ledger” and maximizing its value through computational accounting. Of course, it is precisely because accounting is already complex and large-scale that people need to return to the starting point of the ledger.
In other words, BTC as a value-storing currency is solid enough, and likewise, blockchain as a “tamper-proof public ledger” is thorough enough to support computational accounting to transform the current financial process. It has immeasurable significance. It seems that the DAOs and open-form companies of the future will all be based on public accounting and computational accounting.
