Permissioned blockchains for real world applications

Abstract

Blockchain technology, even though relatively new, has evolved rapidly in the past 12 years. Bitcoin’s underlying technology - the first blockchain - was a public, permissionless, and completely decentralized network that enabled transactions of a cryptocurrency between trustless parties without the need of a trusted intermediary. Blockchain, as a technology, has evolved and expanded far beyond these parameters. It has come so far from its starting point that recent research has developed blockchain platforms that facilitate consortium networks that are private, permissioned and consists of a governance model. Still this technology falls under the same umbrella of “blockchain” or as more people in the field now address it using the broader term - Distributed Ledger Technology. This thesis follows the evolution of the technology from cryptocurrencies to Turing-completeness to consortium networks and beyond. The research takes a look at some real-world use-cases that can be solved with blockchain systems. A distributed network model is proposed that utilizes cryptotokens to create a micro-economy within an educational institution and also facilitate seamless international transfer of money for the convenience of International students in these institutions. The model interconnects and utilizes the features of two modern blockchain platforms. The thesis also presents the partial draft of a private blockchain ledger, developed for the convenience of the Canada Revenue Agency to monitor sales and tax transactions in order to reduce the current GST/HST tax gap of Canada.