Melanie Swan is a Research Associate at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies and a Technology Theorist in the Philosophy Department at Purdue University. She is the founder of several startups including the Institute for Blockchain Studies, DIYgenomics, GroupPurchase, and the MS Futures Group. Ms. Swan's educational background includes an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Philosophy from the New School for Social Research in New York NY, an MA in Contemporary Continental Philosophy from the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University London and Université Paris 8, and a BA in French and Economics from Georgetown University. She is a faculty member at Singularity University and the University of the Commons, an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and an invited contributor to the Edge's Annual Essay Question.