Aug 21, 2020 - This project explains the key interoperability challenges that the blockchain pioneers need to solve. It covers the business and technical foundations of interoperability, namely decisions about user identity (keys and signatures), security of assets (cryptography), notaries of off-chain events (oracles and Byzantine committees), block relays (sidechains and pegs) between a local chain and a foreign one, gateways of communication, and network architecture. It surveys the five major interoperability projects, and it explores the use case of cross-border trade, defining the problem it solves as well as the advantages of the solution it provides...

Aug 12, 2020 - As an Affiliate Member, the InterWork Alliance will have access to the Blockchain Research Institute ™'s global ecosystem.

Feb 18, 2020 - This research describes many industry consortia within the blockchain enterprise space and describes the goals of three in particular—Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, and Hyperledger, hosted by the Linux Foundation. The project involved interviews with twenty-five executives and thought leaders who are innovatively deploying blockchain technology in industries ranging from artificial intelligence to healthcare. It lays out the business case for joining blockchain consortia including developing standards for technologies and building trust and confidence in new technology solutions. It distills the best...

Jan 13, 2020 - This project is an executive’s guide to the emerging field of cryptoeconomics, the study of individual and collective choices in blockchain-based environments. These environments are more difficult to change than other software ecosystems, and so their creators must design them very thoughtfully. The authors provide a framework for economic design and walk through the phases of the design process. Through the case studies of Nestlé OpenSC, AXA fizzy, and the Synaptic Health Alliance, they analyze the challenges that stakeholders face in governing blockchain projects, and they explain why many projects fail to achieve their goals. It is a m...

Oct 23, 2017 - Foxconn is among the first manufacturers to implement blockchain technology in its supply chain. This project looks at Chained Finance, which consists of a procurement market and the handling of logistics, accounting, inventory, finance, and sales functions. Participants’ visibility into orders and the movement of assets enables them to provide trade finance and short-term loans to tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers as needed and at better rates than the traditional financial system.

Feb 19, 2020 - This project underscores the importance of standards and governance of token innovation in managing digital assets. It takes an in-depth look at the Token Taxonomy Initiative, a new open standards effort championed by a who’s who of enterprise blockchain, from Accenture and Enterprise Ethereum Alliance to Microsoft and Web3 Labs. Its members have taken a first-principles blockchain-agnostic approach to developing a Token Taxonomy Framework, which is expected to help unify our understanding of the token economy without sacrificing the decentralization that makes it so powerful. It starts with token types and progresses to token properties, w...