1. Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies Explained
TechNovation Day: Blockchain
Jorge Martinez-Navarrete, OICT & Vanessa Ko, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto.
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2. You’ve registered your land with the government
You’ve registered your land with the government. The paper copy of your registration was then filed, somewhere. But the earthquake in 2010 destroyed all the municipal buildings where they were stored. Or the registration was stored in an outdated database and the file gets erased.
Now you don't have proof that you're a landowner.
Imagine you are a small farmer and your local land registry office is destroyed by a natural disaster.
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3. Also Accurate! Tampered Accurate
How could we prepare against this risk?
Also Accurate!
Tampered
Accurate
Town B
Local Registry
Town C
Local Registry
Town D
Local Registry
Having distributed copies of all land registries is useful in case of loss
Town A
Local Registry
- Lost -
Being able to compare multiple trusted the copies is useful against fraud
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4. A distributed ledger technology can help solve this type of problem
A distributed ledger technology can help solve this type of problem. “Blockchain”
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5. Types of Blockchain Public, Consortium, Private
Privacy and transparency
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6. You can never modify a row
Blockchain, a metaphor.
Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated millions of times on the Internet and is continuously updated.
On this spreadsheet:
You can add new rows
but
You can never modify a row
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7. Practical implementations
Blockchain-based land registries are being tested by:
Sweden’s Land Registry Authority.(Source: Lantmäteriet, Aug 10, 2017)
India’s Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States are being planned.(Reuters, Aug 7, 2017)
Blockchain is also used in other sectors…
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8. Example in the financial sector
Banks monitor and manage their international accounts in other banks to exchange foreign currency to facilitate cross- border payments. Banks want to receive real-time liquidity data to manage funds throughout the business day.
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9. Example in the financial sector
E.g. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, BNP Paribas, Wells Fargo, ABN AMRO Bank, BBVA, Banco Santander, China Construction Bank, China Minsheng Banking, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Lloyds Bank, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, etc. Source: July 6, 2017.
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10. Cryptocurrencies, e.g. Bitcoin
What is it? What are Token sales or Initial Coin Offerings? What are the risks or open questions?
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11. An example: Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
Much like an IPO, an ICO is an unregulated way to raise money for business purposes
The company creates digital tokens in cryptocurrencies.
The tokens are issued based on the amount that the company wants to raise. These tokens have a predetermined value and sold.
The tokens are on a blockchain and derive their value based on demand.
Anyone can invest in an ICO. You can buy it online on cryptocurrency exchanges that supports it.
In case of an ICO, tokens are generated and a price is set on those tokens.
The concept works on the theory that on blockchain you can transact without the need of a central authority such as a central bank.
The newly created tokens can then be exchanged with existing popular cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum or even with a fiat currency like dollar or rupee.
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12. Core benefits of the blockchain
Distributed
Lower transaction costs
Faster transaction times
Transparency & accountability & integrity
Usage information and traceability
Data security through encryption
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13. Thank You
Questions and Answers

14. Footnotes, credits, resources
Notebook icon is Apache Licensed:
Spreadsheet icon: mimetypes-application-vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet.svg
Resources:
Online training at Coursera:
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