VCs have for the most part retreated from investing in Bitcoin and Blockchain. The appetite for blockchain products however has only increased. Corporations have formed consortiums such as R3 and the Hyperledger Project to learn more about the technology. Numerous enterprises have rolled out internal pilots to test and explore the applications of blockchain.
At Thomvest, we believe blockchain adoption is about to take off - making it a prime time for VCs to begin making early stage bets.
Take a look at our most recent research report which delves into the current state of blockchain.
2. Agenda
Review of blockchain protocols: bitcoin, public, and private blockchains
Assessment of adoption trends and notable players
Appendix
2
3. Today’s transactional systems rely on outdated infrastructure to establish trust between
parties
3
Computers enabled efficiency gains via
databases and on premise computing
solutions, dominated by SAP, Oracle,
Microsoft, and similar companies
1970s: Internal Databases
The Internet enabled a new generation
of distributed platforms running in the
cloud, enabling the outsourcing of
certain processes and the more efficient
storage of information
2000s: The Internet & Cloud
Solutions
With current systems, many
transactional processes still require a
third party to establish trust – such as
an escrow, law firm, or clearinghouse –
resulting in high costs, fraud, and
inefficiencies
Present Day: Inefficient Transactions
Blockchains combines cryptography &
distributed computing to deliver
secure, direct peer-to-peer
transactions without the need for a
central party
Think of it as another type of database
for recording transactions
What is a blockchain?
Voting:
Constituent votes cast via a blockchain code on a private device would offer
immediately verifiable results
Healthcare:
Patient’s encrypted health information could be shared with multiple providers
without the risk of privacy breaches
Property Registration:
A digital, transparent, and immutable land title registry can reduce land title
fraud in countries like Honduras
Financial Services:
Faster, cheaper settlements could shave billions of dollars from transaction
costs while improving transparency
4. 4
Think of blockchain as a transformative way to establish trust, transparency, and efficiency within P2P
systems
4
A continually updated, network
hosted ‘database’ of all
transactions on a blockchain.
Comprised of blocks of
transactions (with metadata)
chained together by
cryptography
Digital Ledger
Programmed into each
blockchain protocol, and
responsible for verifying and
updating transactions on the
network’s digital ledger; not
necessary in private
blockchains
Consensus Mechanism
The good transacted on a
blockchain; cryptocurrency
provided the initial proof of
concept, with the industry now
looking to “color tokens” – i.e.
any other form of digital asset
Digital Asset
Computing nodes with access
to the blockchain, able to
manipulate the ledger and
view past transactions; may
be pre-approved or verified by
a consensus mechanism
Network Participants
A blockchain is a horizontal technology comprised of 4 basic components
Data Source: Satoshi Nakamoto Whitepaper; Deloitte; CoinDesk
5. Bitcoin offered a PoC for blockchain by creating an alternative to fiat currency
Bitcoin relies upon blockchain, its underlying
technology, in order to transact a digital
currency – cryptocurrency – between individuals
without the need for a trusted central authority.
Cryptocurrency is one of several assets that
can be transacted on a blockchain, with
different types of blockchains – known as
“protocols” – offering different functionality
5
What’s in a block?
All transactions are logged, including information on the time, date, participants, and amount of each transaction.
How does it work?
Programmed mathematical principles – the “protocol” - govern the method for verifying transactions and
establishing consensus. Cryptography allows each participant on the network to manipulate the ledger in a secure
way.
Is it restricted to currency?
The ledger can record any type of unit – currency, property, commodity, vote, rewards points, etc. – each of which
is individually identifiable and programmable. Smart contracts build upon this.
Core strength?
Eliminates the need for trusted third parties, such as banks, governments, clearinghouses, accountants, and
notaries
Data Source: CoinDesk; pwc; Deloitte; Oliver Wyman
Blockchain Proof-of-Concept
2009
Centralized Authority for P2P Interactions Various Blockchain Protocols, 2015+
6. The bitcoin blockchain lacks initial interest from early adopters given a variety of concerns
6
• Strict policy in Russia, the US, and other markets hinders expansion of key players,
particularly given concerns over the use of bitcoin payment by illegal participants
–Today, roughly 90% of mining operations and trading volume occur in China
• Uncertain regulatory outlook presents risk for application-specific companies
Regulation
• Cryptocurrencies lack strong use-cases in developed countries such as the US,
resulting in stronger adoption in countries with unstable economies, such as Argentina
• Bitcoin is not a Turing-complete platform, meaning it lacks the programmability of
other platforms such as Ethereum and private protocols
Restrictive Use-Cases
• The use of mining for consensus, albeit the most secure mechanism for public
blockchains, reduces throughput, creating scalability issues for certain applications
• Data privacy and security in the ledger presents concerns for sensitive information –
particularly at nodes on the network, as with Bitfinex and Mt. Gox
• Network updates are open-source and must be approved by a majority of miners
Technology Constraints
Insiders view a need for a compelling exit to
re-validate the space and jumpstart investor and
consumer trust in Bitcoin – many investors
made their bets 3-4 years ago, and suffered
significant losses and are waiting for returns
Efforts to improve bitcoin’s scalability, such as
Lightning Networks and Sidechains, represent
notable progress, but early applications for
blockchain remain heavily privatized
Many founders express strong confidence in the
need for a public blockchain, similar to the
Internet
Data Source: CoinDesk; Assorted Founder Calls
7. Blockchain protocols may be classified as either public or private – think Internet vs. intranet /
IT
7
Public Private
Access
Open read/write access to
database
Permissioned read and/or write
access to database
Speed Slower Faster
Security Proof-of-Work / Proof-of-Stake Pre-approved participants
Identity Anonymous/ pseudonymous Known identities
Asset Native assets Any asset
Sample
Companies
PlatformSoftware
Here, we describe
platforms as enabling
outside developers to
build applications on
top, while software is
often run privately
inside an organization
Financial institutions
(market operators,
banks, etc.) are drawn to
private blockchain
solutions
Data Source: CoinDesk; Assorted Founder Calls
8. Expanding the analogy, many insiders forecast a future of one public and several private
chains
8
Internet / Intranet Blockchain Protocols
Interoperability
Public Private
One rail, similar
to the Internet
Initial traction in
risk-adverse
internal systems
Future: multiple
chains per company
from different
vendors for each
asset (like on-prem
solutions)
10. Vertical plays for blockchain to date span a wide variety of industries and use-cases
10 Data Source: Venture Radar; Bitcoin Shop Inc.
DISTRIBUTED
LEDGER
11. Agenda
Review of blockchain protocols: bitcoin, public, and private blockchains
Assessment of adoption trends and notable players
Appendix
11
12. A variety of general and vertical-focused VCs have placed investments in Bitcoin &
blockchain
12
General Funds*:
Blockchain-Specific:
FinTech-Specific
Funds:
*Note: many general funds have funded FinTech startups, but are not exclusively committed to FinTech investments
Data Source: Pitchbook
13. Corporate VCs and strategics demonstrate aggressive investments in blockchain startups
13
While bitcoin investment predominantly
originated with VCs, blockchain deals are
dominated by corporate VCs and strategics
Blockchain firms with notable involvement:
Data Source: CoinDesk
14. 14
Date of First Investment for Financial Services Firms (pre-2016)
Acceleration of investment in blockchain by financial institutions in 2015 and beyond
Data Source: CB Insights; CoinDesk
Number of Blockchain Announcements by Traditional
Institutions Continued to Increase in Q1 ‘16
*Note: ’Traditional institutions’ include governments, central banks, financial
institutions, and other large firms
15. 15
Consortia and open-source projects receive strong participation from financial institutions
Data Source: CB Insights; CoinBase
Dec 2015 Feb 2016 May 2016
Open-source hyperledger project has grown to 40+ participants
Combined with Ethereum’s recent progress, this highlights the
possible importance of founders to open-source innovation and
governance – similar perhaps to Linux
| R3 CEV Consortium
Members include 50+ banks with combined $600B+ market cap
Facilitated 5 blockchain pilots on Chain, Ethereum, IBM, Intel,
and Eris Industries for 40 of the world’s biggest banks in March
2016
Onboarding other asset managers, such as insurance firms and
hedge funds, to their service in 2016; planning to raise $200M
16. Blockchain and hybrid startup funding will continue to outpace Bitcoin startups
Bitcoin startups focus on payments, exchange trading, remittances, or any other ‘currency’
activity (e.g. bitpay)
Blockchain startups focus on non-currency activities, such as securities settlement,
property title, asset provenance, etc. (e.g. factom)
Hybrids do both (e.g. itBit)
In Q1 2016, blockchain
and hybrid startups
overtook bitcoin
startups in total VC
investment for first time
Data Source: CoinDesk16
Investment Sector Distribution
53% 53%
98%
16%
47% 47%
2%
84%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Q1 2016
Percentage of Bitcoin Company Investment Percentage of Blockchain and Hybrid Company Investment
Many traditional bitcoin
startups are shifting
towards hybrid or
blockchain strategies
17. Bitcoin startups rank highly among top-funded, with blockchain gaining traction
17
Company Product Summary
Cum.
Funding
Most Recent
Raise
Post-Val. Notable Investors*
21 Inc.
Software and hardware solutions to achieve bitcoin-
accelerated computing, whereby bitcoin-payable APIs
deliver digital goods and services on a per-call basis
$116.05M
$52M Series C,
Feb. 2015
$362M
Andreessen Horowitz, Drew Houston, Peter Thiel,
Khosla Ventures, Data Collective
Coinbase
World’s largest exchange for Bitcoin and other digital
currencies
$106.71M
$75M Series C,
Jan. 2015
$490M
Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, DFJ
Growth, NYSE, USAA
BlockStream
Sidechains to Bitcoin blockchain to optimize
cryptocurrency, open asset, and smart contract
technology
$77.28M
$55M Series A,
Feb. 2016
N/A
Reid Hoffman, Real Ventures, Blockstream Capital,
Horizons Ventures
Circle Payment tools for bitcoin and digital currency services $76M
$50M Series C,
Apr. 2015
$250M
Goldman Sachs, Accel Partners, IDG Capital Partners,
General Catalyst Partners, Oak Investment Partners
Digital Asset
Holdings
Digital ledgers to track and settle financial assets securely $62M
$62M Series A,
Feb. 2016
N/A
J.P. Morgan, The Depository Trust and Clearing
Corporation (DTCC), Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas
BitFury
Software and hardware solutions for asset transactions
via blockchain (formerly manufactured bitcoin mining
hardware)
$60M
$20M Later
Stage, Jul. 2015
N/A Georgian Co-Investment Fund, Blockchain Capital
Chain
Open blockchain protocol & purpose-built enterprise
blockchain software
$43.9M
$30M Series C,
Sep. 2015
$130M
Khosla Ventures, RRE Ventures, SV Angel, Blockchain
Capital, Citi Ventures, NASDAQ, Orange, Visa, and
several other strategics / corporate VCs
Ripple
Blockchain-based settlement system, currency exchange,
and remittance network
$40.5M
$32M Series A,
Oct. 2015
N/A
Core Innovation Capital, IDG Capital Partners,
Lightspeed Venture Partners, Google Ventures,
Andreessen Horowitz
Xapo Bitcoin wallet, storage vault, & debit card $40M
$20M Series A1,
Jun. 2014
N/A
Benchmark Capital, Greylock Partners, Index Ventures,
Ribbit Capital
The DAO Blockchain-based, autonomous investor-directed VC fund > $150M
$150M,
May 2016
N/A Entirely crowdfunded
*Notable Investors were identified through involvement as a board member, significant follow-on investor, or lead Bitcoin Company Blockchain or Hybrid Company
Data Source: PitchBook
18. 18
FundraisingActivity,
10LargestFirms
Select timeline of activity with Bitcoin and blockchain startups
Other
Activity
$60M Stolen In Hack
Series B, $59M
Series C, $30M
Series B, $9.5M Series C, $75M
Series C, $52M
First Inter-Bank Debt
Traded via Blockchain
Seed, $21M
Series A, $55MRound 2, $20M
Series A, $30M
Series B, $17M
Round 1, $20M
Series A, $25M
Round 3, $20M
Series C, $50M
Series A, $12.5M
Acquired by NASDAQ
First Private Securities Issuance
Documented via Blockchain
Series A, $62M
Data Source: CB Insights; Pitchbook; CoinBase
In Q1 2016, the largest Bitcoin-related VC deals were significantly smaller than blockchain deals
Jan
2014
July
2014
Jan
2015
July
2015
Jan
2016
19. 19
Select highlights: 2016 blockchain adoption, acquisitions, and risks
• Working with ASX, Australia’s largest exchange operator, to speed up settlement of securities
• Working with DTCC, a firm at the center of Wall Street’s trading infrastructure, to test
distributed ledger technology for the $2.6T repo market
Digital Asset Holdings
• NASDAQ acquired SecondMarket in 2015 to bolster its private market services using
blockchain
• Dec. 2015: first private securities issuance via blockchain, reducing settlement exposure by
99%
• Feb. 2016: deploying the Linq distributed ledger in Estonia to facilitate corporate e-voting
NASDAQ Linq
• Leading a consortium partnership with 50+ leading global financial institutions to research,
experiment, design, and deliver advanced distributed ledger technologies to financial markets
• Feb. 2016: 40 investment banks traded debt instruments in R3’s “sandbox” environment using
blockchain solutions offered by Eris Industries, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft-hosted Ethereumasd
R3 CEV
• The Decentralized Autonomous Organization is an investment fund that exists as a set of smart
contracts residing on the Ethereum blockchain, wherein investors “vote” on VC-like
investments
• Crowdfunded in May 2016, raising $150M+ from over 20,000 investors in just 28 days
• A hack exploited a bug in the DAO smart contract code in June ’16, steeling $60M from
investors
The DAO
Suggests strong initial traction for private
blockchain among financial institutions to
eliminate counterparty risk, decrease P2P
transaction costs and latency, and automate
highly manual and Byzantine records-keeping.
Transformation of incomplete and inefficient
public data records, such as property titles and
voting, appear to represent early POCs of
blockchain beyond financial services.
Public blockchains exhibit stronger security
risks than their private counterparts – not due to
the underlying blockchain protocol, which has
yet to be hacked, but rather publicly accessible
applications such as the DAO.
Data Source: CoinDesk; R3 CEV; The DAO
20. Consortia groups and Fortune 500 offerings have been key in generating incumbent interest
20
• Ripple: vertically-integrated,
blockchain-based payment
transaction infrastructure
• Chain: enterprise blockchain
solution; early-stage with 25
employees, and still in POC
with innovation labs
• Blockstream: sidechains to
improve Bitcoin scalability;
also offers open asset and
smart contract technology
• ConsenSys: financial advisory
firm helping companies adopt
enterprise blockchain;
provides services, not
products
• BitFury: software and
hardware solutions for asset
transactions via blockchain
(formerly manufactured bitcoin
mining hardware)
Leading Startups
• R3: consultancy helping
companies to deploy
blockchain; protocol agnostic
• Digital Asset Holdings:
blockchain for securities;
considered by many to lack a
real product despite massive
funding and interest
• Hyperledger Project: open-
source effort with code
contribution from over 40
blockchain companies; lacks
notable progress; originally
run by DAH, and increasingly
led by IBM in recent months
Consortia Groups
• Microsoft: hosts a cloud dev
environment on their cloud
(Azure); protocol agnostic,
• including Ethereum
Blockchain as a Service
(EBaaS), Eris, and others
• IBM: hosts a dev
environment on their cloud;
recently announced a “highly
secure” blockchain solution
intended to meet enterprise
needs
• Intel: Hyperledger
contributor, with early-stage
efforts within the space
Fortune 500
• Bitcoin: most secure and
widely used public
blockchain; largest
cryptocurrency by market
cap and volume
• Ethereum: leading open-
source public blockchain for
smart contracts;
administered by a non-profit,
with no clear plan for
monetization; offers
proprietary programming
language and integrations to
encourage adoption
Public Blockchains
Data Source: CoinDesk; Pitchbook; Assorted Founder Calls
21. Findings informed based on a variety of founder, investor, and customer discussions
2121
Completed:
Planned / Scheduled:
22. Review of key risks when assessing blockchain companies
22
Infrastructure Constraints
Many companies working in the application layer are building upon underlying infrastructure that isn’t ready with regard to scalability and security
Minimal Real-World Viability
Many use-cases are nice-to-haves that make little sense in reality for a variety of factors (e.g. authenticity for artwork, sneaker tracking for verifying
authenticity) due to need for network affect, adoption cost, sales cycle timelines, etc.
Slow Traction from Incumbents for Moon-Shot Implementations
Many companies are trying for “moon-shot” implementations of the technology, which creates issues with long-stage enterprise contracts given a lack of
trust around the unproven tech – hence, many of these approaches fail to mature from POC/pilot to production deals and live implementations, while ones
that try to do the dirty work in less sexy industries, like Ripple, have been able to get their leg in the door
Difficulty Converting POCs / Pilots to Live Production Deals
Companies focusing on infrastructure struggle converting clients to production because they are “forcing” the technology on companies that don’t
understand it, don’t clearly identify the need, or struggle with integration due to cost, time, and risk-adversity
Limited Domain Expertise
Many solutions companies in the space have no experience selling to enterprises, resulting in issues with taking their product to market and harming
adoption
Network Affects
Transactions operate best when parties all run the same system – creating a need for network affects to kick in before a platform can take off; however,
this is the chicken and the egg problem, since adoption will be slow until critical mass is reached
Funding Considerations
While insiders expect M&A activity to accelerate within the next 12-24 months – i.e. enterprise companies acquiring blockchain service providers to
expand their product offerings – exit opportunities to date are marginal, made riskier given high valuations and crowdfunded projects, which complicate
cap tables Data Source: Assorted Founder and Investor Calls
23. 2017 will mark an acceleration in live production deals by FIs in certain use-cases
23
• Driven by efforts to increase scalability, decrease latency, improve security, and drive
use for asset transfer beyond cryptocurrency
• Ethereum and Bitcoin appear to be the two dominant platforms
Public Blockchains
• Initially set up on-premise behind firewalls for deployments with sensitive data, as with
Ripple Connect; hence, early adoption will be in low-risk, non-mission-critical
transactions
• Most organizations will eventually have several blockchains for different use-cases,
similar to the large number of intranets from different vendors today
• Interoperability between ledgers will become critical – this may require a public
blockchain for inter-party transactions, or perhaps Ripple’s ILP will manage to meet the
need
• Within 2-5 years, new markets will emerge around blockchains, such as analytics of
this new public data, new financial products adapted to this new enabler, etc.
Private Blockchains
Financial institutions and other customers are
familiarizing themselves with the technology in
risk-adverse use-cases on private blockchains
Regarding verticals, financial services will be the
first adopters, followed by insurance, healthcare,
governments, and other regulated use-cases
_____
"If 2015 was the year we work up to blockchain,
2016 is the year people are running their proof
of concepts. 2017 is when you’ll see the first
live applications. 2020 is when you’ll see
significant adoption, and in 2025 we’ll see a
tipping point in some markets. That’s 10 years
out.”
–CBDO of Digital Asset Holdings
Data Source: CoinDesk
24. Agenda
Review of blockchain protocols: bitcoin, public, and private blockchains
Assessment of adoption trends and notable players
Appendix
24
25. Collaboration drives the industry, while competition presents a long-term consideration
25
While many companies are targeting similar use-cases, customers, and channel partners, few blockchain providers have market-ready
products, and thereby collaborate with other founders in order to prove the technology, educate customers, and facilitate
adoption. Founders we have spoken with openly support this period of collective progress, and only expect to encounter competitive
challenges once customer adoption expands beyond POCs and innovation labs towards production deals in 2017.
Blockchain Solutions Shared Channel Partners Shared Customers
Many developers and founders at leading startups – including ConsenSys, Eris, and Bloq – also actively contribute to the
development of public networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. In many ways, today’s blockchain community is small and highly
collaborative.
Sample Study: Blockchain for Financial Services
Data Source: Assorted Founder and Investor Calls
26. Early hype cycle enabled large raises, yet some
companies struggled to deliver on product and customer
integrations
• Strong interest from enterprise customers results in long
sales cycles paired with high burn rate for technical
teams
• Many operate in sectors prone to high compliance costs
and regulation (e.g. bitpay), and sometimes even with
unclear revenue opportunities given shifts in the industry
Newer companies with strong emphasis on infrastructure
exhibit ”scrappy” operations and long plays in the market
• Small, yet highly technical and experienced teams keep
burn low while the market develops
• Developing beachhead markets via PoCs, “ambassador”
companies, and channel partners for their technology as
the groundwork to achieve a long-term vision
Capital intensity varies widely based on timing, initial go-to-market, and company dynamics
26
1: Employees – costly dev teams, management, and sales teams
2: Compliance and regulation – key in heavily moderated verticals (e.g. currency, banking)
3: Integration – long timetable for enterprise sales paired with high burn necessitates large raises
Typical Costs:
Highly Capitalized with High Valuations Limited Funding, with Focus on Infrastructure
Most blockchain companies fall in one of two camps:
Data Source: Assorted Founder and Investor Calls; Pitchbook
27. Ethereum presents a compelling alternative to Bitcoin, albeit with notable drawbacks
27
Ethereum offers a powerful platform for
smart contract applications, but
remains in active development with large
questions over the efficacy of its
consensus mechanism following the DAO
hack
Ethereum Is The Most Widely Used Platform for Smart Contract Applications
Unlike Bitcoin, it offers a high degree of programmability with its own Java-script-style
language, Solidity, and is integrated with most cloud dev environments and consortia
groups
Ether Presents a Valid Alternative to Bitcoin
The cryptocurrency Ether is the second largest by market cap (behind Bitcoin), and is
traded on every major exchange globally
Network Performance Raises Protocol Questions for the Non-Profit
Developers of the ethereum protocol have been working to increase the network’s
throughput and efficiency since its launch in 2013, with mixed progress (i.e. data
sharding)
Concerns Over Centralization Emerge After June 2016 Fork
Following the DAO Hack in July 2016, the Ethereum community voted in favor of a “hard
fork” to reclaim the funds – resulting in two active Ethereum blockchains and raising
strong questions over the network’s security and decentralized nature
Data Source: CoinDesk
28. Blockchain-based smart contracts present a new paradigm in asset registry and transaction
28 Data Source: CoinDesk; pwc; Deloitte; Oliver Wyman
Smart Contracts
Distributed Ledger
(i.e. the Blockchain)
New
Business
Models
Real-Time Transaction
Distributed (P2P)
Provenance
Regulatory Inclusive
New Cash Products
Think of smart contracts as a new form of
registering or transacting assets enabled by
the blockchain, which in turn may be
manifested in new business models
29. Review of blockchain’s core benefits and risks
- Permanent, transparent ledger enables increased transparency and
auditability while reducing risk of data loss or conflicting records
- High divisibility of ‘units’ facilitates fee-less micro-transactions
- Higher efficiency and reduced friction through the elimination of
centralized authority for P2P interactions lowers transaction costs
- Public or private, depending on the blockchain protocol, with
customizable permissions allowing sensitive data to be managed
- Identifiable and programmable units enable smart contracts for more
effective management of digital assets and offline P2P agreement
For instance, cash flows within a company’s departments may
be programmed for specific uses within a certain timeframe,
thereby reducing counterparty risk and securing compliance
up-front
- Elimination of single points of failure and reduced need for trust
Key Benefits
- Variable throughput capacity between blockchain protocols suggests
an uncertain scalability, and potential concerns over transaction
latency
- Possible consensus protocol flaws, i.e. in the event of malicious
agents on the network, may result in a lack of complete asset
security
- Uncertain regulations in certain use-cases, particularly those
handling sensitive assets such as healthcare, securities settlement,
and contracts
- High deployment costs, particularly in data sensitive, complex data
operations, may prove an inhibiting factor in blockchain adoption, and
at the very least extend the timetable for deployment
- Shift from centralized authority to an autonomous, digital, and
decentralized network for trusted P2P transactions challenges
societal and industry norms, and may face sharp resistance
- Irreversible transactions (e.g. the DAO hack)
Primary Concerns
29 Data Source: CoinDesk; pwc; Deloitte; Mastering Bitcoin
30. Detailed analysis of the blockchain ecosystem
30 Data Source: Blockchain Angels
Product/Service Category:Sectors:
Confirms strong industry interest for blockchain in financial applications, underlying infrastructure, and bitcoin services.
Nascent product categories hint at a broader interest that will likely grow into new sectors in the coming years.
31. Illustrating the bitcoin blockchain protocol
Jim owes Alice money
for lunch. He installs an
app on his smartphone
to create a new Bitcoin
wallet. A wallet app is
like a mobile banking
app and a wallet is like
a bank account.
To pay her, he needs
two pieces of
information:
his private key and her
public key.
Jim gets Alice’s public
key by scanning a QR
code from her phone, or
by having her email him
the payment address, a
string of seemingly
random numbers and
letters.*
The app alerts Bitcoin
‘miners’ around the
world of the impending
transaction. ‘Miners’
provide transaction
verification services in
exchange for bitcoin.
1
All pending transactions
in the past 10 minutes
are grouped for
verification. The miners
verify that Jim has
enough bitcoins to
make the payment by
completing complex
cryptographic
computations.
Once verified, the new
block joins the prior
block so a chain is
made – the
blockchain. This
provides an immutable
and permanent audit
trail to prove occurrence
and timing of
transactions.
*Note: a bitcoin address is a hash (i.e. condensed version) of the public key to add an additional layer of security by not showing the public key until a transaction occurs
31
All the transactions in
the block are now
fulfilled and Alice gets
paid.
22 3 4 5 6 7
Transaction Requested Transaction Authorized Transaction Executed & Recorded
Source: Deloitte, PWC
32. Bitcoin trading volume continues to grow despite volatility, competition
32
Bitcoin Trading Volume, 2015 - Present
Despite rapid growth in alternative
blockchain protocols for cryptocurrency,
namely Ether, Bitcoin maintains a firm status
as the leading challenge to traditional fiat
currency
Leading Cryptocurrencies, by Market Cap
Source: CoinDesk
33. General applications of cryptocurrency
Users
Cryptocurrency
Merchants
Exchanges
Miners
Hardware manufacturers
Mining
Bitcoin PoS
Bitcoin processing
Risk & fraud management
PSPs supporting bitcoin
International remittance
Bitcoin ATM
Bitcoin debit cards
Wallets
33
Bitcoin companies have
traditionally operated
within these sectors
_____
However, many leading
Bitcoin firms are beginning
to shift to a “hybrid”
model, meaning offering
blockchain solutions in
addition to their original
core business
Notes de l'éditeur
Note: delineation between platform and software providers informs a framework for gauging future distribution strategies and sector leaders
Break down top blockchain startups by capital raised
Break down top investors in the space
Research the capital intensity / needs of these companies to help project how we would value a blockchain startup (particularly given these large series A rounds)
Mention past exits (namely M&As, including SecondMarket, Canaan Creative, DAH’s purchases, etc.)
List Recent Investments / Exits / Mergers to offer a more rich view of the funding environment??
List Recent Investments / Exits / Mergers to offer a more rich view of the funding environment
Include: SecondMarket Acquisition; Coinbase Series C; BitFury Series C; 21 round; Canaan Creative Acquisition; BitPay Series A; Digital Asset Holdings round / acquisition; Chain Series C; R3 CEV; Blockstream round; itBit Series A; Gem Series A; Circle funding rounds??; ConsenSys; Abra Series A; Align Commerce; Large company progress
Include issues (e.g. compromised markets; volatile bitcoin price; regulatory backlash such as in Russia; etc.)
Timeline of financial firm investment in bitcoin/blockchain: https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/insurance-tech-investing-2016/
Include: SecondMarket Acquisition; Coinbase Series C; BitFury Series C; 21 round; Canaan Creative Acquisition; BitPay Series A; Digital Asset Holdings round / acquisition; Chain Series C; R3 CEV; Blockstream round; itBit Series A; Gem Series A; Circle funding rounds??; ConsenSys; Abra Series A; Align Commerce; Large company progress
Include issues (e.g. compromised markets; volatile bitcoin price; regulatory backlash such as in Russia; etc.)
Timeline of financial firm investment in bitcoin/blockchain: https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/insurance-tech-investing-2016/
Prominent Exits:
SecondMarket (by NASDAQ)
Include: SecondMarket Acquisition; Coinbase Series C; BitFury Series C; 21 round; Canaan Creative Acquisition; BitPay Series A; Digital Asset Holdings round / acquisition; Chain Series C; R3 CEV; Blockstream round; itBit Series A; Gem Series A; Circle funding rounds??; ConsenSys; Abra Series A; Align Commerce; Large company progress
Include issues (e.g. compromised markets; volatile bitcoin price; regulatory backlash such as in Russia; etc.)
Timeline of financial firm investment in bitcoin/blockchain: https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/insurance-tech-investing-2016/
Briefly boil down the case studies, and extrapolate high-level trends that offer commentary on the space
Bitfury working w/ Georgia to register land title using blockchain
Honduras is using blockchain to build a land title registry, which will help to reduce land title fraud
IBM has developed a POC that uses blockchain tech to build a decentralized IoT
Guardtime’s blockchain-based data integrity solutions can be applied to the telco, defense, digital advertising, and public sectors (currently w/ Ericsson and Lockheed)
Consolidation within bitcoin, and shift to hybrid/blockchain
Slide describing Fortune 500 blockchain products / dev environments / their interest
Further Reading:
6 minute video primer on blockchain (very detailed)
CIO Explainer: What is Blockchain? (WSJ)
For “lack of complete asset security” E.g. hacked exchanges; recent hack of the DOA; Mostly just a concern in public networks?
This is done from a user perspective, but doesn’t explain the technology as well…consider making it more granular as well