New applications of blockchain technology to voting and lending

With a lot of attention (even hype) given to blockchain technology, it is not startling that many researchers, developers, journalists, and start-ups have posited blockchain technology as the missing link for solving several problems with major interest within the financial sector. Motivated by the current burst of interest around blockchains, we examine the feasibility of a few decentralized blockchain applications: specifically, voting and lending. The spiked interest in blockchain is the result of its perceived benefits, ranging from the removal of trusted parties and bureaucracy, lower costs, transparency, among others. In this thesis, we explore how the blockchain mechanism works, how it can be integrated with the concept of smart contracts (scripts that exist on the blockchain enabling the automation of processes), and how to create applications that operate on this decentralized platform. We start by considering the viability of voting on a blockchain. Then, the bulk of thisthesis focuses on a lending infrastructure for cryptocurrencies deployed on the Ethereum Virtual Machine. We present a cognitive walk-through for the deployment of a loan (peer to peer lending and bonds) on the blockchain by utilizing the transparency offered. A performance evaluation is given in terms of transparency, cost, security and reliability of the system. Limitations encountered as well as future work are discussed in the later part of this thesis