Connections throughout the globe

Venture Building

WELCOME TO THE BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY GUIDE 

What is the Blockchain Technology Industry?

At its core, blockchain technology is a type of decentralized ledger technology- meaning that, instead of the network relying upon the direction of a central server, it relies upon the cooperation of several spread-out servers, or nodes. Decentralized networks are more secure, auditable, and transparent. They are used to store records or digital assets, and the data on them is immutable and unable to be modified. These properties give blockchain many industrial applications in areas such as payments, cybersecurity, and healthcare. This guide will focus on these three industry sectors.

The industry is quite new, and growing fast; the landscape is comprised of many startups and some established companies. Common activities across industrial sectors include creating and managing payment platforms; developing protocols upon which to create dApps (decentralized apps); creating self-sovereign identity solutions; and managing native digital assets such as digital artworks. 

This guide can offer a launching point as you embark on your secondary market research for your business idea. Work through the questions and resources to develop strategies for accessing reliable business information as part of your planning process. While doing your own primary market research will ensure you get the exact data you need, it is usually very time consuming and expensive. Believe us -- it is well worth your time to learn how to find publicly available statistics and data first. We'll point you to as many freely available, online sources that we can find, but keep in mind that there are many resources available at your local public, college or research library. 

Guide Outline

Small Business Accelerator

This Accelerator Guide is organized into four sections designed to help you focus your research. Each section will highlight what goals you'll achieve, as well as questions to get you thinking about the kind of information you'll likely need. In no time you will be an expert DIY researcher! You'll need to use the menu on the left to explore each section but here is an outline you can follow.

  1. Getting Started has introductory materials like how-to books, sample business plans and general start-up information.
  2.  Industry Info has sources outlining the current status, outlook, and trends for your particular industry or sector and more.
  3. Competitive Info has sources for outlining your competitive market, including strategies for identifying potential competitors and/or partners and market share.
  4.  Customer Info has sources that will help you develop your market analysis and learn about the demographics of your target market and your customers' need.

Need Other Help?

If you're looking for in-person help be sure to check out the BC Business Support Directory for help in your specific community. If this is your first time doing secondary market research you might want to follow our  step-by-step Business Research Basics. In the Learn Business Basics section of this website you will find curated lists of resources on many business topics from marketing, top business planning to a wide selection of free web-based tools to help you with your business development.

First Nations land acknowledegement

We acknowledge that the UBC Point Grey campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm.


UBC Crest The official logo of the University of British Columbia. Urgent Message An exclamation mark in a speech bubble. Caret An arrowhead indicating direction. Arrow An arrow indicating direction. Arrow in Circle An arrow indicating direction. Arrow in Circle An arrow indicating direction. Chats Two speech clouds. Facebook The logo for the Facebook social media service. Information The letter 'i' in a circle. Instagram The logo for the Instagram social media service. External Link An arrow entering a square. Linkedin The logo for the LinkedIn social media service. Location Pin A map location pin. Mail An envelope. Menu Three horizontal lines indicating a menu. Minus A minus sign. Telephone An antique telephone. Plus A plus symbol indicating more or the ability to add. Search A magnifying glass. Twitter The logo for the Twitter social media service. Youtube The logo for the YouTube video sharing service.