Onchain

Jacob argues that "onchain" should become the standard term for things available on or performed using a blockchain, much as "online" describes the internet. The essay defines it as an adjective and adverb, contrasts onchain with offchain rather than "web2 vs. web3" or "centralized vs. decentralized," and proposes writing it without a hyphen. Listed benefits of putting content onchain include verifiable provenance, public accessibility, permissionlessness, and permanence for as long as the underlying blockchain exists. The essay also predicts that over the coming decade the majority of societal value will move onchain. It cites a 2020 tweet by Balaji as an illustration of the "on disk, online, on chain" progression.