BLOCKCHAINA mysterious monster!

ByMohammed Asghar Khan,

For Microsoft, Dubai

Blockchain is just Bitcoin!■ NO!

■ But they are closely related.

■ Bitcoin is a digital currency whose underlying “system” is called Blockchain.

Let’s get the basics clear■ Blockchain is a distributed system.

■ A collection of individual computers

■ Working together for a common goal

■ Eg. WWW

Peer to Peer (P2P)■ Every computer can become a

client and a server!

■ Eg. BitTorrent Protocol

■ Over internet (TCP/IP)

■ Individuals can share data without any central control

So, what is Blockchain?■ Is it a database?

■ Is it a network application?

■ Blockchain is special!

■ But, what makes it special?

■ Blockchain is a system for validating, clearing, settling, tracking and recording the ownership of assets that are being traded.

Normal Transaction

■ Note the no. of participants for a single transaction.

■ Intermediaries involved: 6

■ Intermediaries are needed for trust.

■ Security: Can be compromised

Blockchain Transaction■ Intermediaries involved: 2

■ A knows B’s computer address (or B’s public key)

■ A encrypts the message– Timestamp + B’s Public

Key

■ B decrypts it using his own private key

What’s inside a block?

■ Block ID: A unique identifier

■ Block ID= Code (Hash) derived from the information in the block.

Who makes the block?■ Volunteers in the network, start

to “mine” the blocks

■ All miners race to finish the block

■ These miners try to compute a hash based on:– The Merkle root

■ Which is a hash of the transactions in a block

– Other Meta Data■ Rest of the stuff in the

block

This is how a Blockchain looks like■ Blocks added every 10

minutes

■ Current hashing power of BitCoin network is more than 500 supercomputers combined

■ 340,000,000,000,000,000 hashes per second

Enough Theory!

B-a-a-S■ Microsoft Azure DevTest Labs

■ For developers and testers who aim to create environments quickly in Azure.

■ Re-usable templates and artifacts.

■ Integration with on-demand environment

What are benefits of using a blockchain for trade?

A few pilot use cases… Shipping industry

A few pilot use cases… Healthcare industry

A few pilot use cases…

■ Music Industry :

■ Diamond Industry :

■ Bio Science:

■When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, 'Nah, what's wrong with a horse?' That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.– Elon Musk

Thank you!

linkedin.com/ThinkMohammedTwitter: @azarkhanm