The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain (APPG Blockchain) was set up in January 2018, with the stated purpose:

To ensure that industry and society benefit from the full potential of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies (DLT) making the UK a leader in Blockchain/DLT’s innovation and implementation.

In 2018, the APPG on Blockchain will be mainly focused on becoming familiar with Blockchain as a new foundation technology with transformative implications for business and the public sector. Our approach in the first part of the year will be to invite industry stakeholders, entrepreneurs and thought leaders to express their experience, vision and view on particular Blockchain fields – thus offering a framework for the next phase of work continuing into 2019.

The term ‘Blockchain’ is receiving growing attention from industry and technologists on issues ranging from its role as ‘a new internet’ to competition effects, crypto-currencies and contracts as well as supply chain management and fraud. The APPG on Blockchain group will gather evidence illustrating what Blockchain’s opportunities are for the economy, industry and society, and what its potential effects and challenges might be.

In 2019, the APPG on Blockchain will be concerned with building a roadmap to understand the practical steps for both scaling the upsides and addressing the downsides of Blockchain.

The group will prioritise key use cases to explore and, through each Evidence Meeting, aims to generate pragmatic solutions (policy, regulation, industry practice and infrastructure development) with clearly defined steps for how success can be achieved.

APPG Blockchain Sponsors