Quiz: Enterprise Blockchain ROI

Question 1

How many "Yes" answers to the 5-question decision framework justify blockchain over a shared database?

(A) 3 or more
(B) 1 or more
(C) 2 or more
(D) All 5

Answer: (A) : Three or more "Yes" answers indicate blockchain adds genuine value over a shared database.

Question 2

Which of the following use cases scores lowest on the blockchain fit matrix?

(A) Repo settlement
(B) Food supply-chain traceability
(C) Internal accounting
(D) Cross-border payments

Answer: (C) : Internal accounting involves only one party: blockchain adds no value over a traditional database.

Question 3

What did the 2018 Walmart Food Trust pilot benchmark demonstrate?

(A) The 2018 Walmart/IBM Food Trust pilot improved traceability speed from 6.5 hours to 2.2 minutes, demonstrating a 99% time reduction in fresh produce tracking
(B) 90% cost reduction
(C) T+0 settlement
(D) Traceability from 6.5 days to 2.2 seconds

Answer: (D) : The 2018 Walmart/IBM pilot reduced leafy-green traceability from 6.5 days to 2.2 seconds (pilot benchmark).

Question 4

What daily settlement volume does JPMorgan Kinexys process in repo transactions (2024)?

(A) \100M
(B) \500M
(C) \1B+
(D) \100B

Answer: (C) : Kinexys reported \1B+ daily repo settlement, the largest enterprise blockchain volume globally.

Question 5

Why can Kinexys settle repo transactions that the traditional market cannot?

(A) It operates 24/7 vs. traditional market closing at 3pm
(B) It uses a faster consensus algorithm
(C) It avoids KYC requirements
(D) It bypasses all regulatory reporting obligations and runs entirely outside the jurisdiction of CFTC, SEC, and FINMA, operating as an unregistered financial market infrastructure

Answer: (A) : Kinexys enables intraday repo settlement 24/7; traditional repo market closes at 3pm, making same-day settlement impossible.

Question 6

Why did TradeLens (Maersk/IBM) wind down in December 2022?

(A) A critical smart contract vulnerability introduced during the 2021 platform upgrade that caused irreversible data corruption across all shipping manifests stored on the Hyperledger Fabric nodes
(B) Regulatory ban
(C) IBM withdrew funding
(D) Rival carriers refused to share data with competitor Maersk

Answer: (D) : Competing shipping lines (CMA CGM, MSC) refused to share logistics data on a platform co-operated by Maersk, a direct rival.

Question 7

HSBC Contour wound down in November 2023. What was the primary failure cause?

(A) A sophisticated smart contract exploit that drained escrow accounts holding trade finance collateral, forcing Contour to halt operations and refund remaining platform participants
(B) FINMA withdrew licence
(C) IBM platform shutdown
(D) Business-model failure in a declining LC market

Answer: (D) : Contour's technology worked (90% faster LCs) but the Letter of Credit market was declining and non-bank participants never adopted the platform.

Question 8

What is the recommended TCO multiplier to apply to initial development estimates for a realistic 5-year cost?

(A) 3×
(B) 1.5×
(C) 10×
(D) 2×

Answer: (A) : Multiply initial development estimate by 3× to capture governance, partner onboarding, legal, and insurance costs.

Question 9

At what year does the TCO model typically show break-even for a well-scoped enterprise blockchain project?

(A) Year 3-4
(B) Year 1
(C) Year 2
(D) Year 7-10

Answer: (A) : Well-scoped projects typically break even at Year 3-4 after high Year-1 integration and governance costs.

Question 10

Which factor accounts for the largest share (34%) of enterprise blockchain consortium failures?

(A) Technology immaturity
(B) Regulatory bans
(C) Smart contract bugs
(D) Governance disputes

Answer: (D) : Governance disputes (34%) are the leading cause. Technology typically works; consortium politics do not.

Question 11

What year did the 2016-2017 enterprise blockchain cohort achieve in terms of active projects by 2024?

(A) 82% still active
(B) 50% still active
(C) 35% still active
(D) 18% still active

Answer: (D) : Approximately 18% of 2016-2017 cohort projects remain active in 2024; 82% wound down.

Question 12

Which regulatory framework licences SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) in Switzerland?

(A) MiCA
(B) FINMA
(C) FCA
(D) SEC

Answer: (B) : SDX is licenced by FINMA as both an exchange and central securities depository under Swiss DLT Act framework.

Question 13

What technology does SIX Digital Exchange use at its custody layer?

(A) MPC (Multi-Party Computation) distributing private key shards across geographically separated custodians
(B) Multi-sig
(C) Cold storage only
(D) HSM-based custody

Answer: (D) : SDX uses HSM-based custody integrated with SIX SIS (traditional Swiss central securities depository).

Question 14

Which model does SIX Digital Exchange exemplify as the most replicable enterprise blockchain success pattern?

(A) Competing-consortium model where rivals co-govern, requiring unanimous consensus on rule changes
(B) Single regulated operator model
(C) Open permissionless model
(D) DAO governance model

Answer: (B) : SDX has a single operator (SIX Group) with a FINMA licence and an existing client base, avoiding all consortium governance problems.

Question 15

What distinguishes permissioned from permissionless blockchain in the enterprise context?

(A) Permissioned is faster; permissionless is cheaper
(B) Permissioned has known validators + privacy; permissionless has public composability
(C) Permissioned requires tokens; permissionless does not
(D) Permissioned blockchain is exclusively available to banks and financial institutions regulated by central authorities, while permissionless chains are legally required to remain open under international FATF Travel Rule provisions

Answer: (B) : Permissioned chains (Fabric, Corda) offer known validators and privacy; permissionless chains (Ethereum) offer DeFi composability and open access.

Question 16

What was the TradeLens investment figure, and how should it be cited?

(A) \500M, officially confirmed by IBM per Maersk's audited annual financial statements
(B) \1.6B+, press-reported estimate (not fully disclosed by IBM)
(C) \3B, audited figure
(D) \800M, Maersk annual report

Answer: (B) : The \1.6B+ figure is a press-reported estimate; IBM has not publicly confirmed the exact cost. Always cite as "press-reported."

Question 17

Which governance mechanism is recommended to prevent the "Maersk problem" in enterprise consortia?

(A) Neutral operator with no competing commercial interest
(B) 1-member-1-vote democracy
(C) Founder veto rights
(D) Rotating chairmanship among founding members who each hold veto rights

Answer: (A) : A neutral operator (industry association, regulated entity, or neutral JV) without competing commercial interests prevents governance capture.

Question 18

What does "blockchain theatre" refer to in the enterprise context?

(A) Using blockchain for live event ticketing with digital collectible seats and transparent resale pricing
(B) Deploying blockchain for marketing reasons when a database would achieve identical outcomes
(C) A Gartner research report
(D) Blockchain-based theatrical rights management

Answer: (B) : "Blockchain theatre" (Gervais et al.) describes marketing-driven deployments where a centralised database would work equally well at lower cost.

Question 19

Which project used the R3 Corda platform and wound down in 2023?

(A) TradeLens
(B) We.Trade, cross-border SME trade finance platform backed by 14 European banks
(C) HSBC Contour
(D) Kinexys

Answer: (C) : HSBC Contour was built on R3 Corda and wound down November 2023.

Question 20

Which of the following best describes the "success formula" for enterprise blockchain?

(A) Maximum decentralisation with open participation and community governance votes
(B) Large consortium + broad scope
(C) Narrow scope + neutral governance + quantifiable ROI
(D) Low cost + fast implementation

Answer: (C) : Survivors consistently share: narrow scope (one use case), neutral governance, and a clearly quantifiable ROI from day one.