Blockchain- Some observations
Finished reading a very interesting book on Blockchain- Blockchain Revolution by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott.
Summarized below are my observations from the book:
1. The origination of Blockchain seems to be based on the need to create a trusted peer to peer network. At that time building this on the back of the concept of a distributed ledger seems very cool. And the distributed ledger ensures that the #Blockchain does not lie.
2. All of us in Digital talk about Systems of Record and Systems of Engagement. Blockchain is a mechanism for a distributed system of record. It can be used to store many forms of records including personal records, transactions etc. It can also provide an opportunity for triple entry accounting which could potentially impact the typical Audit process in an enterprise.
3. Distributed Apps could be the potential dark horse from the blockchain concept. Distributed Apps could be used to create federated/cooperative platforms. I think there are still some things to be ironed out- who will own these apps, who will build and sustain them. Also, while the concept of the Apps in steady state seems to be sustainable, however the ramp to the steady state will be interesting to watch out for, especially the ramp of adoption.
4. Blockchain could be the platform around which ‘things’ could truly become autonomous, within defined parameters of course. Which basically means our cars could negotiate and pay directly for tolls, parking, charging etc.
5. I think there is going to be tremendous opportunity at the intersection of analytics and blockchain.
Outside the book, it was very interesting to understand the cost of mining or the cost per transaction. Also, the overall power consumption associated with the mining process. There are reports that Bitcoin mining consumes power equivalent to 2-3 Mn homes. And therefore, if mining continues to scale up, it will be interesting to see the impact on the power sector as they look to add generation capacity.
Raman Sapra
Principal at Pedersen & Partners
7 年Thank you Ketha! Distinction well made. On a lighter note, your memory and retention is surely better than mine!
Principal at Pedersen & Partners
7 年Concisely explained and summarized. The first thing that came to mind is a training course I had attended on Sybase RDBMS more than two decades ago. This also used distributed architecture with replication of records across copies of the database. I don't have enough context and knowledge to make the distinction, but will gladly learn from anyone who can educate me further on this!
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7 年Raman , really lucid and great summary on blockchain and also the hidden cost of mining of currencies ( one of the most talked about use cases of blockchain ) .The "BIG" threat to blockchain inherent crypto based security will be from quantum computing( quantum computing is going to completely make the present computer cryptography defunct ) .Already Nasa has come up with research projects on Quantum resistant blockchain ledgers)