There is no doubt that blockchain will follow a TCP/IP-comparable path. Businesses is not only planning but have transacted in billions of $ through block chain. 

The Central Bank of some countries have already started debate on currency and its future options in which bit coin (part of block chain system) is one.

Dear Axel,

when it comes to the implementation of blockchain, I do agree, government should lead and govern the regulatory reqirements. But, by all means, like in many technology driven disruptions, I think that the applications in real life (i.e. fintech) are coming first and will be the driver. I am actually excited about the idea, if blockchain can protect innovations, like intellectual property do today?!

Best regards, Rafaela

New Literature on Block-chain has started pouring in. One such article is attached.

Dear Arun - yes McK based this article on the very good book by Don and Alex Tapscott. ...

Yes. Certainly. First of all, thanks to the possibility of personalization of any transaction and link the whole movement "upstream" in the logic of how and by what / who turns and "input stream". At the same time it can be used both in cash and non-cash transactions - for example, in customer loyalty management systems. Here only to what, in the end, this will result - said heavily. But then the world will never be the same again...

Yes, it can be used both in cash and non-cash transactions but at present it is being used for non cash transactions only.

And don't forget the beautiful aspects of smart contracts - pre-defined transactional statements that will be fulfilled automatically at point and time of  "purchase" and at pre-defined status of event, to make the SC approach very systematicaly, reliable and from buyer's point of view very predictable.

Blockchain transaction systems are going to have a serious affect on the number of staff required by financial institutions and accounting firms, for example.  Once this system is fully operational,  a lot of the number-checking jobs and the personnel duplication in those jobs  will be eliminated.  More efficient organizations will exist with less staff.  

• and obviously reduce transaction costs on the individual peer-to-peer deal
• therefore reduce the need for third-party interaction, aka financial institutions

I see the really tricky and hard challenges in the pre-definition of closing routines within the smart contracts. Maybe there have to be bandwidths set up for closing prices, which could allow for exploitations on algorthmic basis again.

Exciting times.

No doubt Blockchain transaction systems have beautiful aspects of smart contracts but recently some frauds have been reported in Blockchain transactions.

Interesting article on Bitcoin.

Dear Arun,

what  happened between Jan. 3rd and Jan 5th 2017 as BTC EXCR dropped by a mere 20% - even though analysis would possibly summarize the following effects (taking into consideration that China makes up for 80% of trades in BTC at the very moment):

1) Chinese lenders and owners of BTC have to repay an interest free credit from the gvt. on Jan. 7th. - they reaped profits.

2) The Yuan gained 1% over the Greenback - could  have led several risk averse "speculators" to switch back to their local currency

3) Currency regulations seem to have a certain impact on the demand side - obviously seeing BTC in this case as a safe haven in general.

The speculative so called bubble, which rose in december 2016, was merely adjusted and it looks like the pull will be rather upwards (taking into consideration that supply from the mines will be reduced again in July 2017).

I believe that BTC will be back to a valuation of 1,000 USD or higher with the upcoming weekend or before.

The last 2 comments highlight a crucial impediment to adoption of blockchain-based solutions -  that is the conceptual tie/ link to bitcoin and its  association with ransomware, money laundering and other, often exaggerated, fears that have captured public imagination and shaped perceptions. This is a pity because there are so many useful non-fintech blockchain applications in fields as diverse as art and agriculture in addition to more "elegant solutions" particularly in the delivery of public services. However, in time, I think the business case for blockchain use will be so strong that it will naturally take over legacy systems and that companies/governments not fully exploiting blockchain technology will fall so far behind (being slower, less efficient, more constrained) that they will eventually have take it up to catch up - classic disrupter/incumbent model

Thanks to this comment - Immaculate Dadiso.

In many articles (non-scientific) journalists fall into the trap of confusing blockchain and bitcoin, even though it all started with the famous Satoshi Nakamoto paper.

I cannot even imagine what impact blockchain technology could have on scientific paperwork, publications, presentations and even posters. One thing is for sure - the technology is out - it will be developped at unbelievable speeds - and it has come to stay.

I know predictions can be dangerous, but in this case I would bet on BlockChain.

Dear Axel,

I agree with your observations. Blockchain technology has very wide applications. For the time being finance sector has started using it for transactions. One day it may become the vehicle for carrying out scientific paperwork, publications, presentations and even posters but the path still appears to be hazy in these fields.

Dear Arun,

I am currently working on an explanation on the basis of value-patterns - which is why I come to believe that with further development of smart contracts there's a bright future ahead - nonetheless there will be many road blocks ahead.

Hi Alex, I am currently working on different blockchain projects and I must say there is still a lot to do in terms of decoupling technology and its first use case "the criptocurrency". Immaculate is totally right in that aspect.

Anyway, for those only reading the news about the volatility of bitcoin or ether, or the mining farms in mogolia or whatever, I think they are really losing the big picture....

And the big picture is that everybody in the corporate world, multilateral institutions, central banks and some governments are seriously exploring DLT, blockchain technologies. There is also a very, very active start up ecosystem with some fantastic ideas (and a lot of not so good ideas... well that is innovation!.

If you dont stay in the game nearly every week, you may lose how fast it is developing. And I am not talking about the prices of bitcoin!! hahaha.

I also have an opinion on not backed cryptos like bitcoin, but I would argue that even if today bitcoin desapears, the wave of transformation that this technology is creating is unstoppable.

Regarding financial use cases, I think some people is losing also the whole picture... today this is about reducing the backoffice, but we are exploring use cases that may change the way front office business are done, and how the players interact and maintain competitive advantage, and this is a gamechanger.

Well, lots of things to debate, I am afraid.

Best 

Carlos

The Truth About Blockchain

Marco IansitiKarim R. Lakhani

https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain

The answer depends on the perspective we talk about. In case of cryptcurrency, it seems to have promising ability to reshape the economy. However, if it comes to security and privacy, similar comments may not applicable. Appreciate the question.