One of the best books ever written is Robert Pirsig's Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. Even after several rereads and three decades, the words remain vivid, coherent and relevant. Essentially the book talks of madness and how motorcycle road trips can clear the mind and bring intelligent people back from the dead. It clarifies life and explains some of the darkest mysteries of the human mind. Such clarity is much-needed in the New Tech World of cryptocurrency and ICOs. The proliferation of technologies, so-called solutions and competing standards will take more than a motorcycle journey to understand. However, smart contract blockchain company Zen Protocol believes it can has the answers, not only to cryptocurrency 'maintenance', but also to the future of the technology. Namely, it makes secure and peer-to-peer finance possible on a public blockchain, obviating the need for intermediaries such as brokers and banks. Current financial systems are centralized, complex, and difficult to access. While established and experienced players can usually deal with the paperwork and bureaucracy, many businesses and individuals find the barriers to entry impossible to overcome. Potential trades and deals are lost, as these participants in finance are forced to use intermediaries to gain limited access to the system, without the ability to issue assets or even to trade in some asset classes. Zen allows anyone, anytime, anywhere to create and trade financial products on a platform secured with a proof-of-work blockchain. Zen provides users with an open marketplace for options, futures, digital currencies and all types of financial instruments.