TrueUp, a learning company that "gamifies" accounting and finance skills, held its inaugural Blockchain Challenge for Accountants last month, announcing the results this week. Dubbed "Broken Bots 'N' Blocks," the online competition is meant to educate students and professionals on blockchain and how it will have a future impact on the profession.
The competition featured 183 students, divided into teams of three, representing over 30 different universities across the country. Each team was paired with a firm professional to help them understand how blockchain technology works.
The premise of the challenge was a cyberattack in the year 2040, causing global financial catastrophe. Students were tasked with “going back in time to 2018" in order to complete tasks based on the main concepts of blockchain technology and transaction flow to help save the planet.
There were four stages ("blocks") to complete over two weeks. The first three blocks involved accessing an Oracle blockchain, reviewing chaincode for errors, using an inventory process diagram to analyze blockchain workflow, and auditing blockchain activity data, using the MindBridge.ai tool, to help identify suspicious endorsers. For the final stage, teams submitted a 12-minute video to a panel of judges proposing their Blockchain Migration Plans.
Each video was reviewed by a panel of 10 judges, with the best presentations winning prizes worth over $25,000. Judges included Karen Abramson (CEO of Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting), Hitendra Patil (director of practice development at AccountantsWorld), and Amy Vetter (CEO of the B3 Method Institute).
"Team TU014" — consisting of Christopher Tash, Jennifer Welch and Tracy Earll of Portland State University — were ultimately named the 2018 TrueUp Blockchain Challenge winners. Teams were split between two judging blocks, with three placements made by each judge block. Team TU014 was determined from the first place winners from each block.
More information on the competition, including all six winning videos, can be found on TrueUp's
