10 Summary

Congratulations, you have made it! This Chapter summarises the discussion both concerning our general discussion (this Section) as well as technical considerations (next Section). You can also review the technical discussion in the Chapter 8, with the technical Section putting together the technical discussion that had been gone through until then.

We have considered many different areas of interest concerning blockchain:

1 In Chapter 1, we gave an initial definition of blockchain, also discussing the different fields of knowledge connected to blockchain. The discussion included peer-to-peer transmission, transparency and pseudonymity, irreversibility of records and computational logic.

2 In Chapter 2, we discussed different financial and business areas, where blockchain was already in use. The discussion was not overtly technical as this was the beginning of the course, but as the course is now complete you may review this Chapter in more technical detail by browsing the Internet. In this Chapter, we considered Bitcoin, logistics and tourism.

3 In Chapter 3, a more challenging topic of mathematics in blockchains was discussed. We went through the basics, with a peek on the formal definition of hash functions, Elliptic curve digital signature algorithm and Merkle trees, which are all used extensively in all the blockchain implementations currently available. The discussion limited itself to basics, but if you are interested in this area, you may find more information online.

4 In Chapter 4, blockchain governance and digital voting in general was the topic of discussion. The Chapter gave a few ways these areas could be developed and discussed the state-of-the-art. By this stage, the reader had acquired more understanding over blockchain technologies, so we were able to dive a bit deeper into the topic. However, there is a lot more going on, and anyone interested in online voting should take their time to see what kind of references are publicly available.

5 In Chapter 5, smart contracts were discussed. The Chapter outlined the use of smart contracts, and their developing work in recent years. Also, critical notes were given, as there is a large hype around new developments in blockchain technologies. We also made the distinction between smart contracts being part of blockchain 2.0 and bounded our discussion to these technologies even though there are already blockchain 3.0 technologies in use. Blockchain 3.0 does not belong to this introductory course.

6 In Chapter 6, a brief outline of different countries’ jurisdiction was given, with an emphasis on US and Finland. The jurisdiction is very much the same all around, but there are exceptions, and as the blockchain is a global technology, it is worthwhile to consider the differences between the jurisdiction around the globe.

7 In Chapter 7, different business models already using blockchains and possibly using them in the future were discussed. The definition of a business model was given, discussion on innovating new business models was briefly touched upon and different examples of new business models discussed. Especially music and rental were found as interesting venues for further growth in the blockchain business areas.

8 In Chapter 8, a brief introduction to programming a blockchain was presented. With a simple Python code, all the necessary steps of creating a blockchain and new blocks were shown, with limited functionality. Discussion was also held on Multichain, which can be used to create your own blockchains without deep understanding of programming.

9 In Chapter 9, the future of blockchain was on the fore, especially considering quantum computing. The qubits needed to break asymmetric cryptography was briefly discussed and some considerations given on the future of blockchain in the coming years of developing quantum computers.

As a general summary then, we can note that this introductory course to blockchain has discussed a varied field of topics, with the common factor being blockchain applications. We have covered finance, logistics, mathematics, governance, jurisdiction, business, and programming. It is clear then, that we have not been able to dive too deep in any of these fields. However, this course should leave you with a general idea of how blockchains can be applied and developed, along with basic understanding on the blockchain technology. Hopefully, this is the case, and you may continue your studies further in other courses provided in Finland and elsewhere.

A few words on the evaluation. You can enter the final evaluation whenever you please and you have two hours to answer the questions provided. There are 54 questions in the questionnaire, covering the Chapters one to nine of this course. When answering the questions, take your time and proceed with caution. To pass the course, you need to have at least 27 questions with the correct answer after finishing the final evaluation.

As the author of this course, I am happy that you have taken the time to study blockchains. I wish you all the best in the future.