ITU Workshop on “Security Aspects of Blockchain”(Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017)

Blockchain: Definitions, Use Cases & Challenges

Siân JonesChief of Staff, Credits - sian@credits.vision

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

“Any sufficiently advanced technologyis indistinguishable from magic”

- Arthur C. Clarke

Credits

• Enterprise- & government-grade blockchain• Blockchain enablement platform• Framework & tools to build apps & services• Built from ground up to be highly scalable,

interoperable & secure• First & only blockchain platform on G-Cloud• Blockchain PaaS launched April 2016• Credits Core to be released April 2017

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Siân Jones

• Chief of Staff, Credits

• Founder, COINsult

• Head, European Digital Currency & Blockchain Technology Forum

• Member, BSI DLT/1 Technical Committee

• Chair, DLT/1 Interoperability Advisory Group

• 46 years in IT, security, InfoSec & data protection

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Confusion

• Digital currency

• Virtual currency

• Cryptocurrency

• Bitcoin

• Blockchain

• Distributed ledger

• Smart contracts

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Digital currency

Virtualcurrency

e-Money

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin

Virtual currency

Virtual currency

• Medium of exchange

• Unit of account

• Store of value

• Not legal tender status anywhere

• Not issued nor guaranteed by any jurisdiction

• Functions only by agreement of its users

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

De-centralised virtual currency

• Cryptocurrency allows two peopleto exchange value directly with one another, without the need for an intermediary, and to do it wholly digitally

• Both a currency and a payment system

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Breakthrough

• Cryptocurrency allows two peopleto exchange value directly with one another, without the need for an intermediary, and to do it wholly digitally

• Both a currency and a payment system

• Just one application for underlying technology:blockchain

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

De-centralised virtual currency

• Cryptocurrency allows two peopleto exchange value directly with one another, without the need for an intermediary, and to do it wholly digitally

• Both a currency and a payment system

• Just one application for underlying technology:blockchain or distributed ledger

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Use cases

• Payment-related– Digital cash e.g. bitcoin, ether, z-cash

• Non-payment related financial applications– Post-trade in capital markets– Insurance

• Non-financial applications– Government & public sector– Identity– Supply chain

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Use cases

• Post-trade settlement

• Securities custody

• Trade finance

• Reference data

• Regulatory reporting

• Cross-border payments & remittances

• Mortgage loan application

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Use cases

• Insurance placement and documentation

• Insurance claims management

• Proof of insurance

• Reconciliation

• Identity management

• Know-Your-Customer (KYC/AML)

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Use cases

• Identity management

• Companies register

• Land register

• Asset tracking

• Supply chain

• Provenance

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Regulation and standards

• Legislation to regulate activities

– New York State

– EU

– Gibraltar

• International standardisation

– ISO TC/307

• Sector-specific standardisation

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Challenges

• Over-estimate short-term impact

• Under-estimate long-term impact

• Over-emphasis on payments & finance

• Under-estimate non-financial applications

• Over-regulate & under-standardise

• Over-estimate potential for disintermediation

• Over-reliance on permissionless model

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2017

“Any sufficiently advanced technologyis indistinguishable from magic”

- Arthur C. Clarke