Blockchain and how it could help your business

Is blockchain still one of those things that sounds like it's from the space age to you?

Like something maybe Captain Kirk might say.

You're definitely one of those that I get questions about all the time.

So I wanted to unpack it a bit in terms of what it's for

and how it relates to smaller businesses and people basically who are just not in the big tech world.

So to do that, I have two experts joining me today who are really active in the space.

I'm so excited to talk to them as you'll hear on this podcast.

I have Brian Ventura, who's Chair of Blockchain New Zealand and a FinTech specialist at Minter

Allison, and Jeremy Muir, who's a leading lawyer in FinTech and NewTech, including Blockchain,

who's also from Minter Allison.

So we dig into what blockchain is, its value in saving information across things like supply

chains and even touch a bit on potatoes I kid you not so enjoy let us know what you think

questions are welcome thank you both I confess I have done a podcast and I confess this because

I did a podcast trying to explain blockchain on my own and realized two things one it's really

difficult and two that I'm an arm waver so audio probably isn't the best way for me to try and

describe anything um but brian i'm sure you've described or explained what blockchain is do you

do you find that i think it's technology it's either you're in it like there's lots of people

who are kind of immersed in it like i think we are already and we understand it all and then

there's people who are just which is what this podcast is for just completely like nodding their

heads and kind of i don't really that way that people do when they don't really understand

yeah that's a good question um i think there's i mean there's more than one answer for what a

blockchain is, there's a very technical answer.

more for CTOs and developers, but then there's also what blockchain is for non-technical people

and that definition is probably relevant to their particular business and how they can use blockchain.

Right, okay. So what would be the non-technical answer I guess with an example for an average Kiwi?

So I have to have to say that I did check chat GPTs to see if it agreed with me.

You can't have a podcast or any sort of presentation at the moment without referring to chat and TTT.

Bingo.

It's like the meeting bingo with technical conversations.

What it is, is for non-technical, it's an autonomous piece of software that uses cryptography and distributed ledger technology.

And it's run by a set of independent computers, which use a consensus mechanism within the software.

And they, through the software, they can agree whether a piece of information is true or that something has occurred.

And the best example is the first blockchain known to humanity, which is the Bitcoin blockchain created by Satoshi Nakamoto.

and that's a very basic type of blockchain where there are nodes all around the world

running the software and agreeing whether a person owns bitcoin or whether a bitcoin's

being transferred so when you say autonomous and node um can you unpack that just a little bit more

in terms of what that means what does that look like is it like a bunch of because i hear nodes

and I think growths on a plant, for example.

Is that nodes like actual people sitting behind individual computers

or what does it mean?

Autonomous, the idea of autonomy is the software can run on its own