From Bitcoin to Blockchain

Executive Summary

What is this report about?
This report talks about the bitcoins and the underlying technology Blockchain that has the potential to disrupt the financial markets and ecosystem. Blockchain is a distributed ledger system that records the transaction; for instance, payment sent/received using bit coins. The advantage with this system is that it is distributed among networked computers, allowing users to make and verify transactions immediately without a central authority. New transactions are checked by the network and, when approved as valid, they are added to the blockchain. Banks and financial institutions across the globe are already investigating the prospect of using them in main stream financial transactions. We look at the investments that are made in these areas in the report as well as their applicability in the GCC region.

Who will benefit and why?
The report will benefit anyone analyzing the trend in the financial markets in the GCC, especially investors, investment bankers, private equity players, consultants, entrepreneur and startups. This report would help these entities achieve a basic understanding of the technology and areas of application in for the new technology.

How exhaustive is this report?
This report covers the important aspects of blockchain and its applications in the real world. We have covered its overall global progress as well as the blockchain initiatives that are ongoing in the GCC region.