This presentation aimed to demystify the Blockchain paradigm during the "Smart Data Circle" back when I was working for the Data Innovation Lab of AXA.
DIL • Works on his spare time with University Paris Créteil on Blockchain and how this technology will disrupt businesses based on transactions in few years from now. • He delivered a presentation at the TEDx event in Marrakech (Morocco) few weeks back and also shared the same at the DIL. • We propose to share it with the Smart Data Circle today.
Nakamoto” in 2009. In a nutshell, it was designed to solve: The Byzantine Generals’ Problem The Double Spending Problem 1. Its first application: Bitcoin 2. Bitcoin and Blockchain then got separated 3. Smart Contracts, basically applications running on top of a Blockchain have seen the light. è The Ethereum Network. 4. From Proof Of Work to Proof Of Stake. 5. The Scaled Blockchain.
a system with rules… Without rulers. No more appeal to authority... Which is known as a cognitive bias, a bug in our “brain software”. Discards logic and reasoning, in favour of power and authority. The rules existing in a Blockchain are only based upon mathematics, and overwhelming consensus. All what matters is... Are we able to reach consensus with the overwhelming majority or not? Taking a big step from Distributed Architectures to Decentralized Architectures
cryptographic ledger shared amongst all nodes participating in the network, over which every successfully performed transaction is recorded” Rachel O’Dwyer It is an architecture where everyone is equal, has equal power and equal rights. Nodes directly talking to each other, in order to achieve a certain “consensus”. This consensus is reached throught the “Proof of Work”, “Proof of Stake” or other mechanisms.
is Digital Money, but it’s so much more than that. Bitcoin is a technology, an international network of payments and exchange that is completely decentralized… And we have never done this before in the history of humanity. It is an opportunity of the unbanked. It is an exchange of value through the internet... Where no one controls NOTHING. It is a way to exchange value (money for instance) from point A to point B without intermediaries.
equivalent transfer Oh, he sent her 200 euros, let’s record this Oh, he sent her 200 euros, let’s record this Oh, he sent her 200 euros, let’s record this
to run logic (applications) on top of it. Its cryptocurrency is called “Ether” Reaches consensus through the Proof of Work (moving slowly to another model called the Proof Of Stake). These applications are called “Smart Contracts”. Smart Contracts are applications written with “Solidity” (a language very similar to Javascript) to implement some logic. In order for the Smart Contracts to run, they need to turn Ether into Gas, that will then be consumed by them.
be created by everyone. They can be hold in form of wallets, and traded on exchanges. Their value can go up and down just as any other classical market, following the basic rules of ask and demand. They can have their own version of a Blockchain, or be built on top of other Blockchains (like Ethereum, Stellar or EOS).
is different! • Office Open Hour • Very Low Volatility • Governed by Regulations • PR and Finance Updates COMMON FINANCIAL MARKET • Real time - Never stopped • High Volatility • No Regulation Yet • Rumors are Serious CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET ≠
is only one application (and the first) among millions of others. It is a way to make several untrusted parties to get into an agreement without a central authority. What are some use cases? è Preventing fraud votes. è Improving banks efficiency. è An improved Supply Chain model without intermediaries.
Blockchains Private Blockchains are: Permissioned. Nodes should be known to operate. Need a substantial amount of power to maintain the public ledger. Public Blockchains are: Permissionless. Nodes can freely enter and leave the network. Reaching consensus amount nodes is cheaper.
are the models? The way upon which transactions are validated and recorded in a Blockchain. Consensus is what prevent fraudulent actors from doing harm, i.e. spending the same value twice. We have different consensus models: 1. Leader Based: Consensus on recent transactions unilaterally chosen by a particular member elected by the community. The leader changes overtime. 2. Proof of Work: Consensus on recent transactions is unilaterally chosen by a particular member who wins a race to complete a math puzzle. 3. Proof of Stake: The amount each node has of some coin influences consensus: either on selecting which node writes the block, and/or which nodes get to vote. 4. Voting: Consensus on recent transactions is determined by multiple members of community making proposals, with others voting on their preferences.
1. Data entering the Blockchain must gather “shared” approval. 2. Cryptographic hashes identify & link data, so changes are readily apparent. I love Blockchain: 01298A37F6C0CACBD84251EFF5281994E5AB0085A33BAA3EB46DC52EF9695A47 I love Blockchains: 086C630F83297FE6708745F36C558B1BFEFB60167B423CAFD3E2314DED68D440 è Even a change in a single bit changes the whole hash.
Who maintains it? Blockchains are immutable. How can a Data be accessed? By whom? Blockchain = Decentralized database + Digital Signatures + Hash Chains.
Allowing cross-border payments with low fees in seconds. Santander recent research showed that banks can save up to 20B$ a year thanks to the Blockchain by 2020. Banks also do investments… Where there are intermediaries that take huge fees. Blockchain might save banks lots of papers and processes... And therefore save a lot of money.
be unlocked? Problematic: We store Data in “Big Data Clusters”, also known as Datalakes. When different actors use the same Datalake, we should control access to Data through ACLs. When different companies or entities use the same Datalake, the Multi-Tenancy paradigm is used. – è These techniques are hard and treacherous to maintain. – è They also cost a lot as far as human skills are concerned.
to the Blockchain, track the provenance and usage of Data inside of a Cloud system. All the Data Operations are maintained in a public ledger, a.k.a. a Blockchain. When we want to access a file, we make a “TAccess” transaction. We can also make “TGrant” transactions.