A high-level overview of the technology and applications of Blockchain, Bitcoin and other digital currencies and open public ledgers.

1. Lynn Sutherland
Industrial Technology Advisor
Industrial Research Assistance Program
lynn.sutherland@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
How will Blockchain Affect Me?
Presentation CEO Group
June 23, 2017

2. The Headlines
2
Harvard Business Review, March 2017
https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-blockchain-will-do-to-banks-and-law-firms-what-the-internet-did-to-media
Forbes, May 2016
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/05/26/how-the-blockchain-will-transform-everything-
from-banking-to-government-to-our-identities/#22b581b0558e
Forbes, June 2016
https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2016/06/13/blockchain-meh/#5608706c35ef

3. Topics
• Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Platform Technologies
• Blockchain (Distributed Open Ledgers)
• Bitcoin (Digital Currencies)
• Other Applications
• How it Works
• Current Markets
• What now? What next? What should I do?
• References
• Questions
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4. Recent ICT Platform Technologies
• Email (1990s)
• Web 1.0 (1993)
• Web 2.0: Google, Wikipedia..
• E-Commerce: Ebay, Online Shopping, Banking, Travel…
• Feature Cell phone (2000)
• Social Media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter…
• Smart phone (2007)
• The Cloud (2008)
• Streaming Media: Netflix,YouTube…
• The Crowd: Indigogo, Kickstarter, GoFundMe, Kiva…
• Peer-to-Peer/Sharing Economy: VRBO, Uber, AirBnB…
• Open Source, Open Data, Open APIs, Open Education, Online
Collaboration, Online Code Sharing repositories…
• Bitcoin & Blockchain (2008 original paper, 2014 first mainstream news,
2017 Market cap $44B)
• …
4

5. Bitcoin 101
• Bitcoin is the most popular digital currency
• It uses the “Blockchain” (which can also be used for other purposes)
• It uses a world-wide distributed network of unrelated
computers to validate transactions
• Main components:
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Bit Coin
Term
Standard
Term
What it does
Wallet Account Contains *money*
(or something of value)
Blockchain Ledger Records and verifies
transactions
Miner
(or Node)
Bookkeeper Performs transaction
verification

6. 6
From: Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology Explained: Not just Cryptocurrencies, Economics, and
Markets; Applications in Art, Health, and Literacy by Melanie Swan, Founder, Institute for Blockchain Studies

7. 7
From: Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology Explained: Not just Cryptocurrencies, Economics, and
Markets; Applications in Art, Health, and Literacy by Melanie Swan, Founder, Institute for Blockchain Studies

8. Applications of Blockchain
8
From: Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology Explained: Not just Cryptocurrencies, Economics, and
Markets; Applications in Art, Health, and Literacy by Melanie Swan, Founder, Institute for Blockchain Studies

9. How the Blockchain works
1) New transactions are broadcast to all nodes.
2) Each node collects new transactions into a block.
3) Each node works on finding a difficult proof-of-work for its
block.
4) When a node finds a proof-of-work, it broadcasts the
block to all nodes.
5) Nodes accept the block only if all transactions in it are
valid and not already spent.
6) Nodes express their acceptance of the block by working
on creating the next block in the chain, using the hash of the
accepted block as the previous hash.
7) Nodes get paid in digital currency for doing work.
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(from the original paper, see References)

10. Bitcoin & Other Digital Currencies Value (June 2017)
10
From
http://www.coindesk.com/price/
From
https://coinmarketcap.com/charts
Late 2013
First public
awareness
2010
1 BTC = US$0.06
Many
Digital
Currencies,
not just
Bitcoin

11. Digital Currencies Markets (June 2017)
11
From https://coinmarketcap.com/

12. What Now? What Next?
• Many applications are being piloted now on Blockchain,
Etherium and other distributed open-ledger technologies.
• The platform will support applications that were not
possible with proprietary, centralized, closed data.
• This will disrupt business models that rely on closed
information and reduced the need for “trusted third
parties”
• Likely nearest-term applications:
• Open contracts for shared rights
• Asset tracking
• Credit trading
• …
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13. What Should I do?
• If you are curious to see how it works:
• Watch some of Benjamin’s YouTube Channel
• Install a wallet on your Smartphone
• Buy some Bitcoin from an ATM in Calgary
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Some BitNational ATMs in Calgary
http://bitnational.com/Bitcoin-ATM-Locations

14. More Information
Calgary-based Blogger YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChzLnWVsl3puKQwc5PoO6Zg
BTC Sessions, Benjamin Tyler Perrin
How It Works & FAQ & Who Controls It
https://bitcoin.org/en/how-it-works
https://bitcoin.org/en/faq
https://bitcoin.org/en/about-us
Material from bitcoin.org
Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology Explained: Not just
Cryptocurrencies, Economics, and Markets; Applications in Art,
Health, and Literacy
http://www.slideshare.net/lablogga/bitcoin-and-blockchain-technology-explained-not-just-cryptocurrencies-economics-
and-markets-applications-in-art-health-and-literacy
A deeper analysis by Melanie Swan, Founder, Institute for Blockchain Studies, who also has a book,
Blockchain Blueprint for a New Economy
https://www.amazon.ca/Blockchain-Blueprint-Economy-Melanie-Swan/dp/1491920491

15. Technical References
• Main org that co-ordinates the open source for the bitcoin core
https://bitcoin.org/en/about-us
• Original Paper: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
• What is the bitcoin core
https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-core/
https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-core/features/
• How to run a Node, minimum specs for a server
https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#what-is-a-full-node
• A group that researches Blockchains
http://blockchainstudies.org/
• Key Terms/Vocabulary
https://bitcoin.org/en/vocabulary
• Bitcoin, Litecoin, Altcoin price board
https://bitcoinwisdom.com/
• Beyond Bitcoin: Blockchain is Coming to Disrupt Your Industry
http://dupress.com/articles/trends-blockchain-bitcoin-security-transparency/
Deloitte University Press
15

16. Questions?
• What are the primary current use cases?
• How soon will it be mainstream?
• How secure is it?
• Which platform will be the standard?
• …
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