Watch Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain, the world’s leading bitcoin wallet, being interviewed by Bob Wigley who, during his career, has been non-executive director, trustee and board member of organisations such as Blockchain, LCH Clearnet and the Bank of England.
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Speaker
Peter Smith, CEO, Blockchain (interviewed by Bob Wigley, Chairman, Victoria Beckham Ltd.)
Blockchains have been billed as one of the most exciting technological developments since the invention of the internet and one that could have vast implications for how global trade is conducted.
A blockchain is a distributed public ledger that autonomously maintains a constantly growing list of records or 'blocks'. The most famous blockchain is Bitcoin which is a peer-to-peer payment system that created an efficient, cross-border digital currency that is not controlled by a central bank. But Bitcoin is just one example of what a blockchain can achieve.
The fundamental technology behind Blockchain is a way of ordering data and securing sequences of data using advanced cryptography and applied network theory. Its use is most relevant when dealing with items that are high value in a low trust environment which is why there has been significant excitement about the role Blockchains could play in helping to revolutionise the financial services sector.
However, the use of blockchains is likely in time to permeate all global business. BHP Billiton, the Anglo-Australian mining giant, recently announced a blockchain initiative to trace the source of gold in jewellery at a time when traceability in supply chain management is a major issue. The Australian Stock Exchange is moving its platform to a Blockchain system as is the Delaware Companies House in the US. The UK government, under the leadership of Sir Mark Walport, the chief scientific adviser, has recently written a 150 page report detailing how Blockchains could enormously reduce costs and effiencies for government back office functions, such as the Land Registry.
Peter Smith, the founder and chief executive of Blockchain, the world’s most popular Bitcoin wallet which has carried out 100 million transactions, says anything that is valuable could benefit from a blockchain: 'People’s homes are valuable, people’s identities are valuable, the provenance of a rare bottle of wine is valuable and what blockchains can do is fundamentally change how we manage and track value.'
However, he says while there is tremendous excitement around the industry some of the 'triumphant headlines about how blockchains are going to take over the world' are premature. 'As a person who has been running a production system longer than anyone else in the world I can tell you we are only about 10 per cent of the way there,' he explains. 'There is a huge amount of research that needs to be done – really deep conceptual research to solve really important problems. We are working with a lot of universities to help tackle some of these problems.'
