In a nutshell, blockchain is a shared, distributed, ledger technology in which each transaction is digitally signed to ensure its authenticity and integrity, which obviously has major implications for security. While it’s most often discussed in related to cryptocurrency technology, there’s (rightfully) a lot of interest in blockchain from a variety of industries to make it work for them. Blockchain’s ability to scale across an enterprise and ensure digital trust is something of interest to a wide variety of businesses and stakeholders.

The participants in a recent had a range of opinions about this hot — and often contentious — topic. 

There’s a massive amount of hype, but little real-world implementation. But has a lot of potential. Once the hype cycle ends & it’s better understood how blockchain can be used in the enterprise, it will be an indispensable solution.  

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Although it’s a promising technology, blockchain continues to remain an . Even so, blockchain spending this year is forecast to be $2.7 billion, up 80% over 2018 (Source: Computerworld). 

Is blockchain just a hyped-up technology? Yes…and no

There is certainly a lot of and washing going on, thanks to large incumbents and analysts, but we are showing that it is a *viable* *component* of an overall platform  

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Blockchain is a young technology with potential, but the current applications have been over hyped. The technology needs to mature. For example, to pop the bit-coin blockchain bubble, all you need to do is decrypt a bit coin and publish the private key.  

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Noted economist Noureil Roubini labeled blockchain as , but depending on which industry adopts the technology, it could prove to be beneficial. 

Blockchain is a young technology with potential, but the current applications have been over hyped. The technology needs to mature. For example, to pop the bit-coin blockchain bubble, all you need to do is decrypt a bit coin and publish the private key.  

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If companies do decide to adopt blockchain, how could it benefit them? 

From better transparency to security, there’s a laundry list of opportunities for companies to take advantage of. 

Too many to say in 280 characters. Some potential benefits include: better & full transparency, public verifiability, security, immutability & non-repudiation, distributed & decentralized databases. Could have an at least 3 on this question alone. 

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While the benefits are there, it’s important to note that it’s not the be-all, end-all to solving problems. 

This is where can help with ensuring the of logs, of , and numerous other benefits. But, once again, will be only part of an overall solution. IT IS NOT A DATABASE.  

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For every pro, there’s probably a con. There are issues in the blockchain world that need to be discussed, too

Yes, there’s value in blockchain, but it’s always good to be cautious of big tech buzzwords. 

People tend to see things as a buzzword. and Decentralization is expensive and it’s hard to guarantee. But many enterprise businesses don’t need a decentralized solution. 

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What it likely comes down to is real-world implementation and figuring out which application of blockchain is most appropriate.  

Top pitfall by far is making it=system of record. It’s NOT a good database because: 1. You can’t truncate so you’re paying compound storage rent tax – forever 2. It’s inherently slow with volume 3. Adding/replacing Enterprise DBs creates major friction  

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Would blockchain be remotely viable for elections?

There were also mixed reactions here. Yes, it could prove to provide an extra layer of security, but there are too many gaps to ignore. 

@ macro level is ideal for elections. Major gaps remain: 1. Identity. How to effectively ensure KYC/AML-style verification for every voter 2. Accessibility. How to ensure all voters from every income class & demographic have access 3. Governance. Duh  

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There are also too many “old-school” practices that blockchain simply wouldn’t solve. 

It also brings up the whole debate. I’m 100% in favor of requiring verifiable voter IDs, but until we can move that debate past assumed voter suppression, digitizing it won’t fix it.  

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My favorite response on this comes from ‘s who said of Candidate Yang’s blockchain voting proposal: “Dear Andrew Yang, Your blockchain idea is stupid. There. We said it. Blockchain is not the answer to securing our elections …”  

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If blockchain is going to work, it needs to be utilized in the right industry

Even with its pitfalls, blockchain is still one technology that can prove to be beneficial for certain industries – but which ones? 

I expect to see and lead the way for first value case. Money there. Environments with multi-party distrust. Need for multi-party agreed outcome/state storage. Value in signature/integrity witnessing itself, not just storage.  

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Where do you stand on the blockchain phenomenon? Is it just a buzzword or so much more? 

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