Blockchain,

buzz ou révolution ?

Commission veille stratégique &

développement digital

Naël M’nasri
20 septembre 2016
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Internet moves information efficiently but lacked a way to move value
in the same conditions
Internet of Information Internet of Value

OK to share a copy Not OK to share a copy

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(global economy would collapse)
Middlemen are helpful but have major drawbacks

expensive

excluding

slow
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… and they can fail

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Those Trusted Third Parties just maintain centralized private ledgers

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There must be a way to do it better
An innovative approach to the problem : kids and dishwashing

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 2008 : Satoshi Nakamoto* published a whitepaper describing
Bitcoin and the Blockchain, solving major technological challenges
to ensure safe and unique transactions

Age : 7
Market value : $10bn
Rate : 1 BTC = $600

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*no one knows who (s)he really is
Bitcoin is a system that lets a group of computers maintain an open
ledger (= verifiable) of all the transactions in Bitcoin

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since the beginning of time
Transactions are messages broacasted to the computers (= nodes) in
the bitcoin network to update the ledger they have

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The biggest challenge to keep a decentralized ledger is ensuring that
the nodes of the network have the same ledger (= transactions are
not copied)

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The Block Chain is the solution created to solve this problem

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Any computer willing to lend its ressources (= mining) can build a new
block and add it to the chain after winning a math competition

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The math competition is calibrated so the entire network can solve it
in about 10 minutes, it would take years for a single computer

1st computer to solve

the problem and
broadcasts a new block

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There is always ambiguity about the last blocks in the blockchain
that’s why it’s safe to wait a few blocks for the chain to stabilize
(= reach consensus)

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Units of Bitcoin can be programmed and/or appended with values

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A major current use case for bitcoin : remittance in local currency
sent over blockchain

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Remittance can represent a significant portion of GDP in some countries : 25% in Haiti, 13% in Philippines
Example with Coinspark

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Beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum provides a complete programming
language to store and execute smart contracts on the blockchain

Age : 1
Market value : $1bn
Rate : 1 ETH = $13

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IBM use case for smart contracts on Ethereum in trade finance

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Banks join their efforts in the quest to use blockchain to increase
compliance and decrease backoffice costs

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The experience of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization :
“The DAO”

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Smartcontracts can replicate complex organizations

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Everledger maintains a blockchain for diamonds

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OpenBazaar blockchainizes retail

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Countries such as Georgia or Greece are interested in a public
registry for land titles on Blockchain

“Of the 7.3 billion people in the world, only

two billion have a title that is legal and
effective and public regarding their control
over an asset”

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Blockchain in a nutshell

A revolution… …that still has to be

refined
• Includes people in the global economy • Way to reach consensus on the blockchain
could still be refined
• Remove friction
• Quality of code on smartcontracts needs to
• People with no knowledge of one another can be improved
interact in confidence without relying on a third
party • Expensive computing cost of proofs of work
• Help control what personnal data are public
• Make supply chain more transparent, change
customer behavior, could end slavery
• Decrease fraud by breaking data silos &
integrating all data from transactions
• It brings the world closer together
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Q&A time !

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Sources
The great chain of being sure about things, The Economist
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tnG2mr_v8JUJ:www.economist.com/news/briefing/21677
228-technology-behind-bitcoin-lets-people-who-do-not-know-or-trust-each-other-build-
dependable+&cd=2&hl=fr&ct=clnk&gl=fr
How Bitcoin Works Under the Hood, CuriousInventor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx9zgZCMqXE&list=LLdjJGY1Ucp2l_H-CfPurtjg&index=10
The Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology Explained, Rodrigo Henrik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSP-taqLWPQ&list=LLdjJGY1Ucp2l_H-CfPurtjg&index=9
Alex Tapscott: "Blockchain Revolution" | Talks at Google
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PdO7zVqOwc&list=LLdjJGY1Ucp2l_H-CfPurtjg&index=7
The potential of blockchain | Mike Schwartz | TED Institute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJSXg4_NR24&list=LLdjJGY1Ucp2l_H-CfPurtjg&index=5
Introduction to Ethereum and smart contracts, BlackRock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7GVVk8v2Ik&list=LLdjJGY1Ucp2l_H-CfPurtjg&index=6
Blockchain group on Plazza
https://plazza.orange.com/groups/blockchain
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