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Blockchain technology


KinAlberta

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Is anyone following Blockchain technology?

 

If so, I hope you will share any stocks that you own or are are looking at that are beginning to employ the technology. 

(I'll share mine later.)

 

Also any good lay articles on blockchain (outside of bitcoin usage).

 

 

What's Holding Blockchain Back From Large-Scale Adoption?

SEP 21, 2017

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/09/21/whats-holding-blockchain-back-from-large-scale-adoption/#655d041a2309

 

More Mainstream Companies Invest In Blockchain

March 17, 2017

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/more-mainstream-companies-invest-in-blockchain-cm762121

 

 

Bank of America Has Filed for Over 20 Blockchain Patents Already

Aug 11, 2017

https://www.coindesk.com/bank-america-filed-20-blockchain-patents-already/

 

Also links from the same page above:

 

"Nov 1, 2017...

British Telecom Awarded Patent for Blockchain Security Method

The U.K.'s largest internet and telecoms provider, BT, has been awarded a patent for a method to prevent malicious attacks on blockchains.

 

Oct 30, 2017 ...

Sony Seeks Blockchain Patent for User Authentication System

"Electronics giant Sony has proposed a two-part blockchain-based multi-factor authentication system in a new patent application."

 

 

 

11 Blockchain Technology Stocks

https://investingnews.com/daily/tech-investing/blockchain-investing/blockchain-technology-stocks/

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I own a basket of Cryptocurrencies (which I discuss here: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/cryptocurrencies/)

 

And I have owned OSTK for a long time.

 

I haven't done any research on any of the companies on that list you posted. Do any of them strike you as real companies with potential or are they just trying to take advantage of the hype by changing their name to something with "Blockchain" in it?  I suspect that there will be a lot of vaporware in this space.  There will be opportunities as well as scams.

 

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Blockchain is nothing more than a distributed database it has huge potential but lots of hype is around that word now. As a rule of thumb if in a text you can replace blockchain with DB it's likely not a groundbreaking application. Also, blockchain is a lot less efficient than a db in terms of speed and size so you have to bear that in mind. Dont' get me wrong it will change part of the worlds "transactions" but as any new groundbreaking tech, lots of hype, just gotta separate the diamonds from the coal.

 

BeerBaron

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Couldn't resist!

 

Every product is marketed as a product+an experience+a story.

As block chain IS the story, it's a given that there will be mania around any company using block chain for everyday purposes. Block chain is essentially the new dot com. 

 

Bitcoin & Ether are the leading contenders, but they are as different as chalk & cheese. Bitcoin is an asset class around which futures, options, and syndicated loan facilities are being built - with the coin itself acting as the 'medium of exchange'. Ether is primarily a token used to pay for the more everyday things, that also offers some diversification to a portfolio of cryptocurrencies. 

 

In block chains early NA stages, the NA cloud providers are probably going to be the major beneficiaries. As the technology is so disruptive, most everybody will have to 'prove their concept' off-site - before bringing the successes in-house. It's a small list of cloud providers.

 

Per disclosure, I teach how to strategically implement block chain technology at the University of Toronto.

4 months ago the course didn't exist - & in that short time, I've taught close on 50 people.

 

SD

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"Block chain is essentially the new dot com.  " - SharperDingaan    That may very well be true - or just "a flash in the pan".

 

Interesting article (second link below) showing the 'sloppiness' of those rushing to seize the moment and of course - a whole lot of money. 

 

BTW, I have shares in Leonovus - have had some for a while and the addition of blockchain tech (as with OSTK, etc.) adds a secondary lottery ticket to the package. The latest rise is purely a mania for what can only be described as pure speculations.  In fact, that's why I decided not to start a dedicated Investment thread on this little speculation as it has zero the intrinsic investment qualities that would align it with anything respecting the agenda of CoB&F.  Hey, I'm early to such games - as back in the day I even owned shares in JCI Technologies (an early Torstar, Southam jv). It was so early to the internet that even Wikipedia has deleted its page for lack of links and Wikipedia's editors not understanding the nature of the early internet itself. :-)

 

Warren Buffett retells the story of the dead oil prospector who gets stopped at the pearly gates and is told by St Peter that Heaven’s allocation of miners is full up. The speculator leans through the gates and yells “Hey, boys! Oil discovered in Hell.” A stampede of men with picks and shovels duly streams out of Heaven and an impressed St Peter waves the speculator through. “No thanks,” says the sage. “I’m going to check out that Hell rumour. Maybe there is some truth in it after all.”

 

http://nudges.org/2011/04/14/warren-buffetts-joke-about-herd-behavior/

bolding above is mine

 

NextBlock Global Failure: Bad News for Canadian Blockchain Stocks?

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

 

For example, HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.’s (TSXV:HIVE) stock price has dropped more than 40% from its 52-week high of $6.75 during the past two trading sessions alone after the company revealed that it will release 24,636,705 common shares from lockup, a week earlier than planned, at the open of the market on Wednesday, November 8, 2017, which HIVE said will allow for more market liquidity.

 

"And another popular Blockchain name, Leonovus Inc. (TSXV:LTV) has seen its share price slide 19% from its 52-week high of $0.70 during the past couple of days."

 

https://smallcappower.com/news/market-news/nextblock-global-ipo/

 

 

IBM Has a New Blockchain Idea: Tracking Marijuana Sales

 

 

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I think of blockchain as the new internet bubble and the various coins as dot-com startups. The blockchain technology has a bright future. Bitcoin might be Amazon.com, or pets.com, most likely something in between.

 

The bitcoin whitepaper:

https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

 

Here's an interesting article by a guy who created a precursor to Bitcoin:

https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2017/02/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability.html

 

When we can secure the most important functionality of a financial network by computer science rather than by the traditional accountants, regulators, investigators, police, and lawyers, we go from a system that is manual, local, and of inconsistent security to one that is automated, global, and much more secure.

 

Whereas the main social scalability benefit of the Internet has been matchmaking

the predominant direct social scalability benefit of blockchains is trust minimization

 

Cryptocurrencies, when implemented properly on public blockchains, can substitute an army of computers for a large number of traditional banking bureaucrats. “These block chain computers will allow us to put the most crucial parts of our online protocols on a far more reliable and secure footing, and make possible fiduciary interactions that we previously dared not do on a global network.
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I think blockchain is going to be crucial in proving identity and validity of information.  We all know that pictures can be photoshopped, but the same capability is now available to edit video and even voice.  You can edit a video of someone now and make them say anything you wish them to say.  When you see a video how will you know it is real?    If people upload videos to a blockchain signed with their personal key (or audio like in podcasting) then when someone sends me a clip of you saying that you are have joined the Nazi party and think the white race is biologically superior, I won't believe it unless it was uploaded to the blockchain and signed by you personally.

 

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I think blockchain is going to be crucial in proving identity and validity of information.  We all know that pictures can be photoshopped, but the same capability is now available to edit video and even voice.  You can edit a video of someone now and make them say anything you wish them to say.  When you see a video how will you know it is real?    If people upload videos to a blockchain signed with their personal key (or audio like in podcasting) then when someone sends me a clip of you saying that you are have joined the Nazi party and think the white race is biologically superior, I won't believe it unless it was uploaded to the blockchain and signed by you personally.

 

The problem of proving identity does not need a blockchain to be solved. You can simply use digital signatures, e.g., PGP. In your example the blockchain would be useful for removing intermediaries (e.g. Youtube, GMail). Blockchain can also be used for cutting out middlemen like Goldman Sachs, AIG, etc.

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I think blockchain is going to be crucial in proving identity and validity of information.  We all know that pictures can be photoshopped, but the same capability is now available to edit video and even voice.  You can edit a video of someone now and make them say anything you wish them to say.  When you see a video how will you know it is real?    If people upload videos to a blockchain signed with their personal key (or audio like in podcasting) then when someone sends me a clip of you saying that you are have joined the Nazi party and think the white race is biologically superior, I won't believe it unless it was uploaded to the blockchain and signed by you personally.

 

The problem of proving identity does not need a blockchain to be solved. You can simply use digital signatures, e.g., PGP. In your example the blockchain would be useful for removing intermediaries (e.g. Youtube, GMail). Blockchain can also be used for cutting out middlemen like Goldman Sachs, AIG, etc.

 

In public service blockchain is primarily used for 1) Verification, 2) Asset Movement, 3)Ownership, and 4) Indentities.

Just these 4 alone covers a huge range of applications.

 

SD

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

He leaves this comment pretty unsubstantiated: 

"best portfolio of blockchain-related assets"

 

 

Overstock's Huge Upside Hinges On Blockchain;...

excerpt:

Forte’s bull case for Overstock is all about the company’s Medici Ventures portfolio of 10 investments related to blockchain technology. ...

“Given our view that not only is there tremendous value in its holdings, but it owns, by far, the best portfolio of blockchain-related assets among current publicly-traded equities, we believe the stock merits such a valuation,” Forte wrote in a Monday note.

 

https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/18/01/11000795/overstocks-huge-upside-hinges-on-blockchain-da-davidson

 

 

 

 

 

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Per disclosure, I teach how to strategically implement block chain technology at the University of Toronto.

4 months ago the course didn't exist - & in that short time, I've taught close on 50 people.

 

SD

 

Do you have any thoughts on the energy consumption and transaction speed (7-10 per second) that are often cited as reasons that blockchain will not be able to scale? More specifically, is it possible for blockchain to achieve mass adoption for various use cases with those two hindrances core to the protocol? 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

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Per disclosure, I teach how to strategically implement block chain technology at the University of Toronto.

4 months ago the course didn't exist - & in that short time, I've taught close on 50 people.

 

SD

 

Do you have any thoughts on the energy consumption and transaction speed (7-10 per second) that are often cited as reasons that blockchain will not be able to scale? More specifically, is it possible for blockchain to achieve mass adoption for various use cases with those two hindrances core to the protocol? 

 

Thanks

 

 

If you think about it, power required and speed (especially the latter) are limitations to almost any technological advancement. But we figure out improvements in both software and hardware to make technologies viable. Aircrafts, EV, computer graphics, machine learning, ...

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Per disclosure, I teach how to strategically implement block chain technology at the University of Toronto.

4 months ago the course didn't exist - & in that short time, I've taught close on 50 people.

 

SD

 

Do you have any thoughts on the energy consumption and transaction speed (7-10 per second) that are often cited as reasons that blockchain will not be able to scale? More specifically, is it possible for blockchain to achieve mass adoption for various use cases with those two hindrances core to the protocol? 

 

Thanks

 

 

A blockchain will run on EITHER a database OR a distributed ledger. 95% of applications do not need the distributed ledger.

Furthermore; energy consumption, and slow transaction speed, is only an issue for the distributed ledger. There are no scale issues with databases, and they are used extensively in the D5 nations where scaled blockchain solutions are widespread.

 

The simplest analogy is to look at the manufacturing supply chain.

 

Pre-blockchain we used an ERP system running on a database, and it served our functional requirements very well. Blockchain on a database would just address the functionality in a different way, but with about the same transaction speed. Blockchain on a distributed ledger would also do the same thing, but it would make each transaction 'super secure' at the cost of a major reduction in processing speed. Most folks would argue that the value proposition doesn't warrant it, and that the customer would not pay for the 'super security'. Therefore no distributed ledger.

 

Smart contracts run 'on top of' both databases and distributed ledgers. The manufacturer just needs to set up as the Oracle, provide a smart contract writer, list their product via customized offers, and integrate it with their existing ERP system, and collection facilities. As soon as 'offer' becomes 'contract' - either manufacturing commences, or inventory flows out the warehouse against guaranteed payment - with most of the 'back office' processing eliminated. When you're working on JIT, you cant afford the uncertainty as to whether it might take 10 minutes or 7 hours+ for a miner to verify your block on a distributed ledger. Therefore no distributed ledger.

 

Needles to say 'not popular among the developer community'.

 

SD

 

 

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Anyone looking at the two "blockchain ETFs" (BLOK and BLCN) that started trading on NASDAQ?

 

BLOK will be actively managed. BLCN will invest in the "Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy Index". Both will limit themselves to only investing in companies with a market capitalization of greater than $200 million, as well as a six-month daily trading average of at least $1 million.

 

BLOK web page: https://amplifyetfs.com/blok-amplify-transformational-data-sharing-etf

BLCN web page: http://www.realityshares.com/app/BLCN

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  • 3 months later...

 

Hard to imagine the folks at Berkshire haven't been doing their DD on this.

The existing solution is Everledger , it has been around for some time, & it is backed by bigger/better? players. http://tech.eu/brief/everledger-funding/

 

The real money here is in using the blockchain provenance to sell the jewel at a much higher price. It also will not hurt if a famous celebrity was (proveably) the diamonds owner at some prior point, certification is limited to diamonds > $1M, & costs 10K/pop. If sir has to ask the price .... may be recommend our cousins down the street.

 

The real market isn't diamonds either. It's the more numerous high-end coloured stones, and the old master artworks.

Perhaps why an auction house is the partner?

 

SD

 

 

 

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Hard to imagine the folks at Berkshire haven't been doing their DD on this.

The existing solution is Everledger , it has been around for some time, & it is backed by bigger/better? players. http://tech.eu/brief/everledger-funding/

 

The real money here is in using the blockchain provenance to sell the jewel at a much higher price. It also will not hurt if a famous celebrity was (proveably) the diamonds owner at some prior point, certification is limited to diamonds > $1M, & costs 10K/pop. If sir has to ask the price .... may be recommend our cousins down the street.

 

The real market isn't diamonds either. It's the more numerous high-end coloured stones, and the old master artworks.

Perhaps why an auction house is the partner?

 

SD

 

That's a great idea.

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