Assets = Liabilities + Equity

That was the equation that changed the financial world in the 15th century. The A=L+E equation forced integrity of transactions where the equality must hold, in that debits must always equal credits. A=L+E also gave rise to the concept of a balance sheet, where the financial entity was separate from its owner (holding equity). In other words, the balance sheet gave a sense of self to the entity in question. This sense of self evolved to limited liability corporations and to the modern corporation as we know today.

‘Self’ is the core concept. I believe we have now created the sense of ‘digital self’ with the public/private keypair, and like what happened in the 15th century, we will see the rise of new forms in the 21st century.