The best books on Blockchain
- Blockchain RevolutionOver 30 years, no theorist of the digital age has better explained the next big thing than Don Tapscott. For example, in WikinomicsTapscott was the first to show how the Internet provides the first global platform for mass collaboration. Now, he writes about a profound technological shift that will change how the world does business—and everything else—using blockchain technology, which powers the digital currency Bitcoin.The Internet as we know it is great for collaboration and communication, but is deeply flawed when it comes to commerce and privacy. The new blockchain technology facilitates peer-to-peer transactions without any intermediary such as a bank or governing body. Keeping the user’s information anonymous, the blockchain validates and keeps a permanent public record of all transactions.
Money, “The Age of Cryptocurrency” explains, is “a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value.” But for Schopenhauer it was “human happiness in the abstract,” and for Dostoyevsky “coined liberty.” These passion metaphors reflect the febrile excitement about Bitcoin that Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey, both of The Wall Street Journal, share in their wide-ranging, interesting account of the origin, past and possible future of this virtual-money wannabe.
Money was traditionally viewed as a tangible commodity (like gold) or an i.o.u. token of trust for settling debts. Then, out of the blue in 2008, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, the name of both the digital Internet currency and its software infrastructure.
“Cryptocurrency” devotes detailed, anecdote-filled chapters to the genesis and reception of Bitcoin. Its political origin lay in the 1990s anarcho-libertarian community of the Cypherpunks, cryptographers who developed software to preserve privacy in the face of snooping Big Brother governments and corporations.
How does a purchase with Bitcoin work? Think first about what happens when you pay cash: You can spend a dollar bill once only, the transaction is anonymous, and involves no fee.
Blockchains are new technology layers that rewire the Internet and threaten to side–step older legacy constructs and centrally served businesses. At its core, a blockchain injects trust into the network, cutting off some intermediaries from serving that function and creatively disrupting how they operate. Metaphorically, blockchains are the ultimate non–stop computers. Once launched, they never go down, and offer an incredible amount of resiliency, making them dependable and attractive for running a new generation of decentralized services and software applications.
The Business Blockchain charts new territory in advancing our understanding of the blockchain by unpacking its elements like no other before. William Mougayar anticipates a future that consists of thousands, if not millions of blockchains that will enable not only frictionless value exchange, but also a new flow of value, redefining roles, relationships, power and governance. In this book, Mougayar makes two other strategic assertions. First, the blockchain has polymorphic characteristics; its application will result in a multiplicity of effects. Second, we shouldn’t ask ourselves what problems the blockchain solves, because that gives us a narrow view on its potential. Rather, we should imagine new opportunities, and tackle even more ambitious problems that cross organizational, regulatory and mental boundaries.
Distributed ledgers, decentralization and smart contracts explained About This Book * Get to grips with the underlying technical principles and implementations of blockchain. * Build powerful applications using Ethereum to secure transactions and create smart contracts. * Explore cryptography, mine cryptocurrencies, and solve scalability issues with this comprehensive guide. Who This Book Is For This book appeals to those who wish to build fast, highly secure, transactional applications. This book is for those who are familiar with the concept of blockchain and are comfortable with a programming language. What You Will Learn * Master the theoretical and technical foundations of blockchain technology * Fully comprehend the concept of decentralization, its impact and relationship with blockchain technology * Experience how cryptography is used to secure data with practical examples * Grasp the inner workings of blockchain and relevant mechanisms behind Bitcoin and alternative cryptocurrencies * Understand theoretical foundations of smart contracts * Identify and examine applications of blockchain technology outside of currencies * Investigate alternate blockchain solutions including Hyperledger, Corda, and many more * Explore research topics and future scope of blockchain technology In Detail Blockchain is a distributed database that enables permanent, transparent, and secure storage of data. The blockchain technology is the backbone of cryptocurrency – in fact, it’s the shared public ledger upon which the entire Bitcoin network relies – and it’s gaining popularity with people who work in finance, government, and the arts. Blockhchain technology uses cryptography to keep data secure. This book gives a detailed description of this leading technology and its implementation in the real world. This book begins with the technical foundations of blockchain, teaching you the fundamentals of cryptography and how it keeps data secure. You will learn about the mechanisms behind cryptocurrencies and how to develop applications using Ethereum, a decentralized virtual machine. You will explore different blockchain solutions and get an exclusive preview into Hyperledger, an upcoming blockchain solution from IBM and the Linux Foundation. You will also be shown how to implement blockchain beyond currencies, scability with blockchain, and the future scope of this fascinating and powerful technology. Style and approach This comprehensive guide allows you to build smart blockchain applications and explore the power of this database. The book will let you quickly brush up on the basics of the blockchain database, followed by advanced implementations of blockchain in currency, smart contracts, decentralization, and so on.