Consumers Research releases blockchain white paper at Bretton Woods

Consumers Research, the leader of the nonpartisan education group, recently released a new white paper on blockchain technology at a blockchain seminar held at Bretton Woods .

The white paper, published today, focuses on identifying the opportunities presented by the technology, the challenges currently faced, and potential solutions to these concerns.

The white paper also repeatedly mentions some of the advantages of using digital currencies like Bitcoin for transactions.

Joe Colangelo, executive director of Consumers' Research, wrote in the white paper's foreword:

“The core of Bitcoin is that it can make money circulate faster around the world, increase the value of property rights, and allow people who have never met to fully trust each other. ”

Colangelo went on to write that the purpose of the white paper is to educate people who are not familiar with the technology and inform members of the Bitcoin Foundation about obstacles that may prevent them from making changes.

All in all, the white paper is positioned as a tool that could capture a pivotal year for Bitcoin and blockchain technology.

A new era of finance

In the preface to the white paper, Consumers' Research draws heavily on the original Bretton Woods Conference, the post-World War II gathering of hundreds of delegates from 44 Allied nations in the mountains of New Hampshire in mid-July 1944.

The financial system established at that conference established the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.

Consumers' Research argued that the current financial system is on the brink of a new era, citing the conference's spirit as suggesting similar changes are imminent.

“We believe that we are now in the same situation as our predecessors,” the white paper said.

'Transformative' technology

Consumers' Research said that while many use cases for blockchain technology may vary widely, the range of strategic goals that blockchain opportunities need to address is very narrow.

At the outset, the white paper identifies and explains five “transformative goals ” that blockchain technology will sooner or later achieve , all of which were confirmed by the authors of the white paper through numerous collaborators.

These goals are: efficiency, consumer choice and access, privacy and its protection, transparency, direct autonomy and human rights.

The white paper goes on to detail how the technology’s continuous protocol can provide a channel for new use cases.

For example, the white paper states that the next generation of blockchains may focus on microtransactions, identity confirmation, protecting asset ownership, and more efficient and transparent management.

Use Case Examples

The white paper concludes with some “exhibits ” — detailed use case examples such as “Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Marketplaces” and “Game Theory and Cooperation: A Thought Experiment for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations . ”

The report says that opportunities and challenges coexist, and if the right approach is taken, this technology could bring real changes to the world.

“There is no doubt that the potential economic benefits of smart property and blockchain-based property registries could have a transformative impact on the global economy , ” the white paper’s authors wrote, concluding :

“Most importantly, vast subgroups of humanity may be empowered by long-overdue property rights claims. And putting property deeds on a blockchain could be a building block for financial inclusion, in general. ”