Thinking Critically About Blockchain Technology

Presented at ScotChain17 in Edinburgh, Scotland on October 13, 2017. www.scotchain17.com.

Transcript

1. Thinking Critically About BlockchainTechnology Angela Walch Associate Professor St. Mary’s University School of Law Research Fellow UCL Centre for BlockchainTechnologies ScotChain17, Edinburgh 13 Oct. 2017 1 UCL CENTRE FOR BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES
3. How We’ll Proceed • Widespread fascination with Blockchain Technology. • Why we should care. • Some critical thinking… 13 October 2017 A. Walch, ScotChain17 3
4. Reputation • Immutability • Truth • Trustlessness • Security and Resilience 13 October 2017 A. Walch, ScotChain17 4
6. Why We Should Care Finance Voting Health Records Supply Chain Property Records Government Benefits Education Records And everything else… 13 October 2017 A.Walch, ScotChain17 6
7. The Critical Thinking Part • Immutability? • Truth? • Trustlessness? • Security and resilience? 13 October 2017 A. Walch, ScotChain17 7
8. The Enlightened Perspective: A realistic understanding is better than an idealistic understanding. 13 October 2017 A. Walch, ScotChain17 8
9. Getting to Enlightenment • Ask the hard questions. • Insist on precise, accurate communication. • Be alert to hype. • Consider the source (and the source’s incentives). • Seek diverse perspectives. • Doubt everything; assume nothing. • Resist peer pressure. 13 October 2017 A. Walch, ScotChain2017 9
10. Angela Walch angelawalch.com Twitter: @angela_walch awalch@stmarytx.edu UCL CENTRE FOR BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES Thank you!