CBSA Blockchain Use Case Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A pharmaceutical company wants to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the supply chain. Which blockchain capability is MOST critical for this use case?
- Smart contract automation
- Immutable provenance tracking (Correct answer)
- Tokenization of assets
- Decentralized consensus voting
Correct answer: Immutable provenance tracking
Immutable provenance tracking ensures each drug's origin and chain of custody is permanently recorded and tamper-proof, directly combating counterfeiting.
Question 2: A decentralized energy grid wants consumers to trade excess solar power with neighbors. Which blockchain model best fits peer-to-peer energy trading?
- Permissioned consortium blockchain with utility oversight
- Public blockchain with token-based micropayments (Correct answer)
- Private blockchain controlled by the utility company
- Federated blockchain shared among national grids
Correct answer: Public blockchain with token-based micropayments
A public blockchain with token-based micropayments enables trustless, direct peer-to-peer energy transactions without requiring a central intermediary.
Question 3: When evaluating a blockchain use case for cross-border remittances, which factor most differentiates blockchain from traditional SWIFT transfers?
- Higher transaction throughput
- Elimination of currency conversion fees
- Near-instant settlement without correspondent banks (Correct answer)
- Stronger regulatory compliance tools
Correct answer: Near-instant settlement without correspondent banks
Blockchain enables direct settlement between parties without correspondent banks, dramatically reducing settlement time from days to minutes or seconds.
Question 4: A government land registry wants to move to blockchain. What is the primary benefit of this transition?
- Automated tax collection via smart contracts
- Elimination of title fraud through immutable ownership records (Correct answer)
- Faster property valuation algorithms
- Decentralized mortgage lending
Correct answer: Elimination of title fraud through immutable ownership records
Immutable ownership records on blockchain prevent fraudulent title transfers, which is the most critical challenge in land registries vulnerable to corruption or tampering.
Question 5: Which scenario is the WORST fit for blockchain technology?
- Tracking conflict minerals across a multi-party supply chain
- Managing a single company's internal employee records with one database admin (Correct answer)
- Issuing verifiable digital diplomas to graduates
- Enabling multiple insurers to share fraud data
Correct answer: Managing a single company's internal employee records with one database admin
A single company's internal records managed by one admin has a single trusted authority, making blockchain's decentralization and overhead unnecessary and counterproductive.
Question 6: In a trade finance use case, a Letter of Credit is represented as a smart contract. Which benefit does this primarily deliver?
- Reduced need for KYC compliance
- Automatic document verification and payment release upon condition fulfillment (Correct answer)
- Elimination of import/export regulations
- Lower currency exchange rates
Correct answer: Automatic document verification and payment release upon condition fulfillment
Smart contract-based Letters of Credit automatically verify shipping documents and release payment when pre-defined conditions are met, removing manual bank processing delays.
Question 7: A hospital network wants to share patient records across providers while maintaining patient consent. Which architecture element is MOST essential?
- Proof-of-Work consensus for record security
- Patient-controlled private keys managing access permissions (Correct answer)
- Full data storage of medical records on-chain
- Public blockchain for maximum transparency
Correct answer: Patient-controlled private keys managing access permissions
Patient-controlled private keys allow individuals to grant or revoke provider access to their records, ensuring consent-based sharing without a central gatekeeper.
A pharmaceutical company wants to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the supply chain.
Which blockchain capability is MOST critical for this use case?