github.com/leonlxy/hyperledger@v1.0.0-alpha.0.20170427033203-34922035d248/docs/source/biz/usecases.rst (about)

     1  Use Cases
     2  =========
     3  
     4  B2B Contract
     5  ------------
     6  
     7  Business contracts can be codified to allow two or more parties to
     8  automate contractual agreements in a trusted way. Although information
     9  on blockchain is naturally “public”, B2B contracts may require privacy
    10  control to protect sensitive business information from being disclosed
    11  to outside parties that also have access to the ledger.
    12  
    13  While confidential agreements are a key business case, there are many
    14  scenarios where contracts can and should be easily discoverable by all
    15  parties on a ledger. For example, a ledger used to create offers (asks)
    16  seeking bids, by definition, requires access without restriction. This
    17  type of contract may need to be standardized so that bidders can easily
    18  find them, effectively creating an electronic trading platform with
    19  smart contracts (aka chaincode).
    20  
    21  Persona
    22  ^^^^^^^
    23  
    24  -  Contract participant – Contract counter parties
    25  
    26  -  Third party participant – A third party stakeholder guaranteeing the
    27     integrity of the contract.
    28  
    29  Key Components
    30  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    31  
    32  -  Multi-sig contract activation - When a contract is first deployed by
    33     one of the counter parties, it will be in the pending activation
    34     state. To activate a contract, signatures from other counterparties
    35     and/or third party participants are required.
    36  
    37  -  Multi-sig contract execution - Some contracts will require one of
    38     many signatures to execute. For example, in trade finance, a payment
    39     instruction can only be executed if either the recipient or an
    40     authorized third party (e.g. UPS) confirms the shipment of the good.
    41  
    42  -  Discoverability - If a contract is a business offer seeking bids, it
    43     must be easily searchable. In addition, such contracts must have the
    44     built-in intelligence to evaluate, select and honor bids.
    45  
    46  -  Atomicity of contract execution - Atomicity of the contract is needed
    47     to guarantee that asset transfers can only occur when payment is
    48     received (Delivery vs. Payment). If any step in the execution process
    49     fails, the entire transaction must be rolled back.
    50  
    51  -  Contract to chain-code communication - Contracts must be able to
    52     communicate with chaincodes that are deployed on the same ledger.
    53  
    54  -  Longer Duration contract - Timer is required to support B2B contracts
    55     that have long execution windows.
    56  
    57  -  Reuseable contracts - Often-used contracts can be standardized for
    58     reuse.
    59  
    60  -  Auditable contractual agreement - Any contract can be made auditable
    61     to third parties.
    62  
    63  -  Contract life-cycle management - B2B contracts are unique and cannot
    64     always be standardized. An efficient contract management system is
    65     needed to enhance the scalability of the ledger network.
    66  
    67  -  Validation access – Only nodes with validation rights are allowed to
    68     validate transactions of a B2B contract.
    69  
    70  -  View access – B2B contracts may include confidential information, so
    71     only accounts with predefined access rights are allowed to view and
    72     interrogate them.
    73  
    74   
    75  
    76  Manufacturing Supply Chain
    77  --------------------------
    78  
    79  Final assemblers, such as automobile manufacturers, can create a supply
    80  chain network managed by its peers and suppliers so that a final
    81  assembler can better manage its suppliers and be more responsive to
    82  events that would require vehicle recalls (possibly triggered by faulty
    83  parts provided by a supplier). The blockchain fabric must provide a
    84  standard protocol to allow every participant on a supply chain network
    85  to input and track numbered parts that are produced and used on a
    86  specific vehicle.
    87  
    88  Why is this specific example an abstract use case? Because while all
    89  blockchain cases store immutable information, and some add the need for
    90  transfer of assets between parties, this case emphasizes the need to
    91  provide deep searchability backwards through as many as 5-10 transaction
    92  layers. This backwards search capability is the core of establishing
    93  provenance of any manufactured good that is made up of other component
    94  goods and supplies.
    95  
    96  Persona
    97  ^^^^^^^
    98  
    99  -  Final Assembler – The business entity that performs the final
   100     assembly of a product.
   101  
   102  -  Part supplier – Supplier of parts. Suppliers can also be assemblers
   103     by assembling parts that they receive from their sub-suppliers, and
   104     then sending their finished product to the final (root) assembler.
   105  
   106  Key Components
   107  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   108  
   109  -  Payment upon delivery of goods - Integration with off-chain payment
   110     systems is required, so that payment instructions can be sent when
   111     parts are received.
   112  
   113  -  Third party Audit - All supplied parts must be auditable by third
   114     parties. For example, regulators might need to track the total number
   115     of parts supplied by a specific supplier, for tax accounting
   116     purposes.
   117  
   118  -  Obfuscation of shipments - Balances must be obfuscated so that no
   119     supplier can deduce the business activities of any other supplier.
   120  
   121  -  Obfuscation of market size - Total balances must be obfuscated so
   122     that part suppliers cannot deduce their own market share to use as
   123     leverage when negotiating contractual terms.
   124  
   125  -  Validation Access – Only nodes with validation rights are allowed to
   126     validate transactions (shipment of parts).
   127  
   128  -  View access – Only accounts with view access rights are allowed to
   129     interrogate balances of shipped parts and available parts.
   130  
   131   
   132  
   133  Asset Depository
   134  ----------------
   135  
   136  Assets such as financial securities must be able to be dematerialized on
   137  a blockchain network so that all stakeholders of an asset type will have
   138  direct access to that asset, allowing them to initiate trades and
   139  acquire information on an asset without going through layers of
   140  intermediaries. Trades should be settled in near real time and all
   141  stakeholders must be able to access asset information in near real time.
   142  A stakeholder should be able to add business rules on any given asset
   143  type, as one example of using automation logic to further reduce
   144  operating costs.
   145  
   146  Persona
   147  ^^^^^^^
   148  
   149  -  Investor – Beneficial and legal owner of an asset.
   150  
   151  -  Issuer – Business entity that issued the asset which is now
   152     dematerialized on the ledger network.
   153  
   154  -  Custodian – Hired by investors to manage their assets, and offer
   155     other value-add services on top of the assets being managed.
   156  
   157  -  Securities Depository – Depository of dematerialized assets.
   158  
   159  Key Components
   160  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   161  
   162  -  Asset to cash - Integration with off-chain payment systems is
   163     necessary so that issuers can make payments to and receive payments
   164     from investors.
   165  
   166  -  Reference Rate - Some types of assets (such as floating rate notes)
   167     may have attributes linked to external data (such as reference rate),
   168     and such information must be fed into the ledger network.
   169  
   170  -  Asset Timer - Many types of financial assets have predefined life
   171     spans and are required to make periodic payments to their owners, so
   172     a timer is required to automate the operation management of these
   173     assets.
   174  
   175  -  Asset Auditor - Asset transactions must be made auditable to third
   176     parties. For example, regulators may want to audit transactions and
   177     movements of assets to measure market risks.
   178  
   179  -  Obfuscation of account balances - Individual account balances must be
   180     obfuscated so that no one can deduce the exact amount that an
   181     investor owns.
   182  
   183  -  Validation Access – Only nodes with validation rights are allowed to
   184     validate transactions that update the balances of an asset type (this
   185     could be restricted to CSD and/or the issuer).
   186  
   187  -  View access – Only accounts with view access rights are allowed to
   188     interrogate the chaincode that defines an asset type. If an asset
   189     represents shares of publicly traded companies, then the view access
   190     right must be granted to every entity on the network.
   191  
   192  
   193  One Trade, One Contract
   194  -----------------------
   195  
   196  From the time that a trade is captured by the front office until the
   197  trade is finally settled, only one contract that specifies the trade
   198  will be created and used by all participants. The middle office will
   199  enrich the same electronic contract submitted by the front office, and
   200  that same contract will then be used by counter parties to confirm and
   201  affirm the trade. Finally, securities depository will settle the trade
   202  by executing the trading instructions specified on the contract. When
   203  dealing with bulk trades, the original contract can be broken down into
   204  sub-contracts that are always linked to the original parent contract.
   205  
   206   
   207  
   208  Direct Communication
   209  --------------------
   210  
   211  Company A announces its intention to raise 2 Billion USD by way of
   212  rights issue. Because this is a voluntary action, Company A needs to
   213  ensure that complete details of the offer are sent to shareholders in
   214  real time, regardless of how many intermediaries are involved in the
   215  process (such as receiving/paying agents, CSD, ICSD, local/global
   216  custodian banks, asset management firms, etc). Once a shareholder has
   217  made a decision, that decision will also be processed and settled
   218  (including the new issuance of shares) in real time. If a shareholder
   219  sold its rights to a third party, the securities depository must be able
   220  to record the new shares under the name of their new rightful owner.
   221  
   222   
   223  
   224  Separation of Asset Ownership and Custodian’s Duties
   225  ----------------------------------------------------
   226  
   227  Assets should always be owned by their actual owners, and asset owners
   228  must be able to allow third-party professionals to manage their assets
   229  without having to pass legal ownership of assets to third parties (such
   230  as nominee or street name entities). If issuers need to send messages or
   231  payments to asset owners (for example, listed share holders), issuers
   232  send them directly to asset owners. Third-party asset managers and/or
   233  custodians can always buy, sell, and lend assets on behalf of their
   234  owners. Under this arrangement, asset custodians can focus on providing
   235  value-add services to shareowners, without worrying about asset
   236  ownership duties such as managing and redirecting payments from issuers
   237  to shareowners.
   238  
   239   
   240  
   241  Interoperability of Assets
   242  --------------------------
   243  
   244  If an organization requires 20,000 units of asset B, but instead owns
   245  10,000 units of asset A, it needs a way to exchange asset A for asset B.
   246  Though the current market might not offer enough liquidity to fulfill
   247  this trade quickly, there might be plenty of liquidity available between
   248  asset A and asset C, and also between asset C and asset B. Instead of
   249  settling for market limits on direct trading (A for B) in this case, a
   250  chain network connects buyers with "buried" sellers, finds the best
   251  match (which could be buried under several layers of assets), and
   252  executes the transaction.
   253  
   254