Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 07

40 / Canadian Government Executive // February/March 2019 Blockchain and Government: Promise and Peril I n recent years there has been much hype surrounding blockchain technologies and their transformative potential. According to one Deloitte global survey from 2018, the hype may be overdone: such is the view of nearly 40 per cent of informed respondents. Much of this skepticism stems from the frequently dramatic volatility of crypto-currencies, such as Bitcoin, which are fueled by blockchain platforms. The volatility, in turn, is tied to ram- pant speculation and fraud that has led numerous governments to clamp down. As one example, South Korea is struggling to con- By Jeffrey Roy Governing Digitally tain what amounts to unfettered online gambling, already ban- ning anonymous bank accounts, threatening to completely shut virtual currency exchanges. Yet as any blockchain enthusiast would point out, crypto-curren- cies are not to be equated with the underlying blockchain founda- tions. Some even foresee bright days ahead for crypto-currencies themselves, as none other than Square founder and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has spoken about bitcoin’s potential as an eventual global currency – a scenario of interest to Square as it disrupts the financial sector with more decentralized and accessible product