Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
I have advised hundreds of the world’s largest corporations on digital trends, and one of the biggest that CEOs and boards are now talking about is Blockchain. What is Blockchain and what does it mean for us? Could Blockchain wipe out our business, or will Blockchain help us grow?
Here is an extract from recent keynotes on Blockchain that I have given to global banks and insurance companies.
So what is Blockchain?
Blockchain is a very clever method for making permanent global records, with copies held in many different places, totally safe from corruption, deletion, alteration or cyberattack.
Blockchain uses the same technology as BitCoin and other so-called cyptocurrencies.
BitCoin technology was developed to allow a new “virtual” currency to be created, coin by coin, in a way that is permanent, protected, cannot be duplicated or destroyed. It costs a lot of money, mainly electric power to run computers, to create each BitCoin, so they are rare and have real value. BitCoins are traded against many other currencies.
BitCoins are also completely anonymous, and impossible to track when used for online payments, as well as completely secure. BitCoins are controversial because the system is so strong, that they are now the payment of choice used by many criminal gangs, for drugs, ransom payments, arms deals and so on.
The system works because each payment is registered in an ultra-secure database which cannot ever be altered. This means that each BitCoin can only be transferred once. If you spend a BitCoin, you cannot spend your same BitCoin again. Once spent, it’s value is registered at the speed of light to another person permanently, using a system that we call BlockChain. Each “block” is an individual cluster of records, and each “Chain” is a time-stamped sequence of blocks.
But we can use the same registration system for another purpose: to register documents rather than ownership of BitCoins.
Why Blockchain really matters to most industries
Blockchain means that anyone in the world with online access can prove a particular document exists, when it was sent, who it was sent to and so on. We can also prove that an event has taken place, in a way which is fully transparent to everyone who needs to know this around the world.
The implications of this are going to be huge. And it will be many years before we work it all out. We are at a similar stage with Blockchain that we were with the web in 1997. A lot of excitement and speculation, and also a lot of uncertainty about how it will affect us all in practice.
Blockchain Boom
There is no doubt that Blockchain has the power to completely transform every financial transaction or legal process, every trade agreement, every insurance claim and every supply chain ordering system.
That is why we are seeing huge investment in Blockchain innovation, inside large companies, and a huge number of new Blockchain startups, especially in FinTech.
I have advised hundreds of the world’s largest corporations on digital trends, and one of the biggest that CEOs and boards are now talking about is Blockchain. What is Blockchain and what does it mean for us? Could Blockchain wipe out our business, or will Blockchain help us grow?
Here is an extract from recent keynotes on Blockchain that I have given to global banks and insurance companies.
So what is Blockchain?
Blockchain is a very clever method for making permanent global records, with copies held in many different places, totally safe from corruption, deletion, alteration or cyberattack.
Blockchain uses the same technology as BitCoin and other so-called cyptocurrencies.
BitCoin technology was developed to allow a new “virtual” currency to be created, coin by coin, in a way that is permanent, protected, cannot be duplicated or destroyed. It costs a lot of money, mainly electric power to run computers, to create each BitCoin, so they are rare and have real value. BitCoins are traded against many other currencies.
BitCoins are also completely anonymous, and impossible to track when used for online payments, as well as completely secure. BitCoins are controversial because the system is so strong, that they are now the payment of choice used by many criminal gangs, for drugs, ransom payments, arms deals and so on.
The system works because each payment is registered in an ultra-secure database which cannot ever be altered. This means that each BitCoin can only be transferred once. If you spend a BitCoin, you cannot spend your same BitCoin again. Once spent, it’s value is registered at the speed of light to another person permanently, using a system that we call BlockChain. Each “block” is an individual cluster of records, and each “Chain” is a time-stamped sequence of blocks.
But we can use the same registration system for another purpose: to register documents rather than ownership of BitCoins.
Why Blockchain really matters to most industries
Blockchain means that anyone in the world with online access can prove a particular document exists, when it was sent, who it was sent to and so on. We can also prove that an event has taken place, in a way which is fully transparent to everyone who needs to know this around the world.
The implications of this are going to be huge. And it will be many years before we work it all out. We are at a similar stage with Blockchain that we were with the web in 1997. A lot of excitement and speculation, and also a lot of uncertainty about how it will affect us all in practice.
Blockchain Boom
There is no doubt that Blockchain has the power to completely transform every financial transaction or legal process, every trade agreement, every insurance claim and every supply chain ordering system.
That is why we are seeing huge investment in Blockchain innovation, inside large companies, and a huge number of new Blockchain startups, especially in FinTech.
