The Emergence of Blockchains as Activity Registers

By August 13, 2016Bitcoin Business

Antony Lewis is a bitcoin and blockchain consultant, who previously served as the director of business development at bitcoin exchange itBit. In this article, Lewis attempts to describe two very different uses for blockchain technology and why the division of these two functions is increasingly of interest to enterprise firms. On Tuesday, 2nd August, I had the privilege of attending an event hosted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state’s central bank and financial services regulator. For 90 minutes, we heard from an all-star panel: Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset; David Gurle, CEO of Symphony; Daniel Gallancy, CEO of SolidX; and Tim Grant, head of R3’s Lab and Research Centre. One of the panelists said something that got me thinking – using blockchains for what she called ‘proof of satisfaction’, ie evidence of agreement or assertion that something happened to the satisfaction of the parties involved. It seems that two types of blockchain* or distributed ledger are emerging: blockchains as digital token ledgers, and blockchains as registers where proofs of activities (transactions, bets, etc) are recorded. 1. Digital token ledgers These ledgers record ownership and changes to ownership of digital tokens. There are two distinct types of token: Digital assets: The token is the asset. The classic example of this is bitcoin. You own a bitcoin, that’s it – you can’t take that to anyone and claim the ‘underlying’ thing. Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, doesn’t own a bunch of gold he promises to give you if you wave a bitcoin at him. (Neither do central banks for fiat currencies, but that’s for a different post). A bitcoin is your asset, and there is no corresponding liability owed by someone else. Digital claims: The digital token is a claim for something against someone else who promises […]

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